Murdoch Mysteries

Netflix is so addictive, especially when you find a new TV series with lots of episodes. And if the series is based on a book, it's a little bonus because when the episodes are over you can enjoy the characters a different way.

Right now I'm addicted to Murdoch Mysteries, which only has three seasons on Netflix, so books here I come!

Based on books by Maureen Jennings, this Canadian series set in Toronto was never shown in the U.S. and for the life of me I can't understand why, especially with the success of Downton Abbey and Mr. Selfridge on PBS.

There's a handsome lead actor, Yannick Brisson, who owns the character of Detective Murdoch. The supporting cast are delightful and funny - especially Constable Crabtree and his endless list of Aunts with flower names. The plots are imaginative, and the topic is completely trendy - the "Steampunk" turn of the century when inventions and discoveries were being made right and left. Yet society was still Victorian and repressed, which adds much of the tension between strait-laced Constable Murdoch and his lady love and fellow mystery-solver, Dr. Julia Ogden.

If you like old-fashioned mysteries with a little bit of gore, but also enjoy romance, this is the series for you.

Canadian Author Maureen Jennings on Amazon

Fans Not Thrilled with Rowling's New Book Cover

The cover has been released for J. K. Rowling's new book The Casual Vacancy.

From Hypable ~ Book Copy from the Back Cover

I have to say I was a little puzzled and disappointed with the cover just because it seems too plain. I guess the voting check box hints at the political nature of the story, but it doesn't make me want to grab the book and read it. I guess we Rowling fans are spoiled by the rich covers of the Harry Potter series, but seriously . . . I was hoping for something more artistic. I've seen lots of self-published books with better covers.

Mashable has a poll and the top vote right now with 600 votes is "Are they serious?"

So I guess I'm not alone, and there's more . . .

From the Little, Brown and Company Facebook Page:

Andrés Feliciano
I'm sorry, but this cover is horrendous.
Tuesday at 8:13am

Emelia Presley Hawk
I think this cover is a huge "cop out" on the part of the art department at Little Brown. Essentially it might as well be a blank cover. They know all they have to do is put any cover on this book at all. As long as it has JK Rowling's name on it and a title the book is going to be a best seller. They went to no effort on this. It is one of the most unappealing covers I have ever seen, block colors and a tick mark... Really?
Tuesday at 7:06am · 10

Melissa Tortora
I don't like it either. It looks like it was taken from a box of old mass market paperbacks that a drugstore just couldn't sell in the 70s.
Tuesday at 8:51am · 1

Cormia Luce
This looks like fan art and a wonderful writer like JK Rowling deserves better. I can only hope that more effort was put into the editing of the actual novel.
Tuesday at 8:42am · 2

Ouch!

Twitter is even more scathing:

Now I've seen the synopsis & cover for JK Rowling's Casual Vacancy I'm convinced the whole thing is a Springtime for Hitler style tax dodge.

— Mark Stay (@markstay) July 5, 2012

What's in a name? Everything. Otherwise you couldn't charge $20 for an ebook w/ an ugly cover and unappealing synopsis. bit.ly/M6nX16

— Travis King/ときどきぜんぜん (@tokidokizenzen) July 4, 2012

Sorry, JKR. $20 eBook? I'm feeling neither the cover nor the book ► J.K. Rowling's 'The Casual Vacancy' Cover Reveal bit.ly/LkrBbb

— WordNerdGuy (@WordNerdGuy) July 4, 2012

Nice of them to let one of JK Rowling's kids design her new cover on MS Paint.

— Scott Pack (@meandmybigmouth) July 3, 2012

Book Designer Jon Gray wrote this in The Telegraph:

It’s clear from the cover of The Casual Vacancy that the brief was: make it look as different from the Harry Potter series as possible. A bright coloured background to position it well away from the fantasy gothic genre and some jaunty hand-drawn typography to indicate a warm and accessible tale. There is a hint at politics in the imagery, but apart from that this cover tells you nothing and that, I think, is precisely the point. As a reader you are no closer to the story inside. There is nothing to prejudge or dismiss, it’s just type.
. . . I don’t love this cover, because like all cover designers, I think I could have done a better job. But I can see why they have designed it this way and I can appreciate the huge number of hurdles that it probably took to get to it.
As a designer I’m left non-plussed and envious and as a reader I’m left intrigued. That means another copy sold, so: job done.

Craig Johnson's "Longmire" Series Coming to A&E

There's time to start reading the Longmire books by Craig Johnson before the A&E television series begins on June 3rd. The video trailers definitely make me want to read the books! And the newest offering from Johnson called As the Crow Flies will be released on May 15.

Walt Longmire (Robert Taylor) is the dedicated and unflappable sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming. Widowed only a year, he is a man in psychic repair, hiding his pain behind a dry wit and a granite poker face.