A Lady, an Engagement and an Adventure.

Our Lady of Pain by M.C. Beaton is a lighthearted and adventurous murder mystery set in the early 1900's.  Lady Rose Summer is engaged to private detective Captain Harry Cathcart in order to thwart off her parents from shipping her off to India to find a proper husband.   In the interim, Captain Cathcart's new client,  Delores Duval, who has a seductive french accent appears everywhere with the detective which annoys Lady Rose. Ms. Duval mysteriously turns up dead the next day and unfortunately is found by a very jealous Lady Rose who had threatened her because of her association with Captain Cathcart.  From England to Paris to Scotland, Captain Cathcart, Superintendent Kerridge of Scotland Yard and some other friends and colleagues race against time to keep Lady Rose out of jail and alive long enough to prove who the killer really is.Murder by the Book

A different kind of Princess

Before I begin my review, I would like to remark that the dedication to Steve Jobs at the end of the movie was respectful and well deserved.




Brave, an animated movie by Disney and Pixar set in what I perceive is late 19th to perhaps early 20th century Scotland, about Princess Merida, daughter to Queen Elinor and King Fergus whose fate has been chosen by her parents and who decides to choose her own fate.  In order for her to change her fate, Princess Merida feels she has no other  recourse but to rely on the help of an old witch that turns out to be her undoing and finds herself running out of time to right many wrongs when she takes this course of action.  Brave is depicted  as a children's movie and on some levels it is.  The playfulness of Merida's brothers are wonderful and enjoyable to see. The camaraderie between the King and the other clan leaders are endearing and at times playful along with elements in the forest that are pure Disney will definitely entertain the children.  The vibrant red curly hair of Merida and her brothers and the beautiful cinematography are unforgettable.   However, some elements that were more understandably for an older child were the underlining "coming of age", "mothers and daughters" and "trust and respect" issues.  The Scottish accent was very heavy and I'm sure if children were not thrown by it, many adults might have been.  I watch a lot of foreign films and the BBC, so I was not put off by it, but we are talking about a bigger and younger audience.  Overall this was not a bad film,  I loved it and would recommend seeing it.  I'm just blowing caution to the wind to parents with very young children who believe the story is one thing and it turns out to be something very different.  Otherwise, sit back and enjoy a very well made movie.