murder mystery | Penstricken

Mystery Clichés and How to Avoid Them

Posted on May 5, 2021 Leave a Comment

Mystery Clichés and How to Avoid Them #NewPost #fiction #stories #writing #writetip #writingtip #amwriting #genre #mystery

5 Super Snappy Speed Reviews – TV Edition

Posted on February 4, 2021 Leave a Comment

Well, I know it’s not been all that long since the last edition of Super Snappy Speed Reviews but I’ve spent the last few hours banging my head against the desk trying to think of something to write for today and I’m drawing a blank so I’m afraid you’re getting more speed reviews today- this time focusing on the realm of televised fiction. I’ve picked 5 TV shows entirely at random from my DVD rack Now TV/Lovefilm/etc. accounts and have prepared for your information reviews of up to no more than three or four sentences each.

8 Super Snappy Speed Reviews

Posted on January 31, 2021 Leave a Comment

Well this might be a great idea or it might not be, but I thought it might be fun to knock together a couple of two or three sentence book reviews based on a selection from my bookshelf. Who knows, if it’s a hit, I’ll maybe do it again… maybe with movies or TV shows. But for today, it’s books.

I selected the books for review entirely at random. They are not necessarily of the same genre, nor are they necessarily books I particularly liked or disliked, nor are they sorted into any particular order.

What I have written about them are my entirely own impressions and opinions, compressed, squeezed and crammed into a few short sentences.

6 More Six-Word Stories

Posted on January 7, 2021 Leave a Comment

If you’ve been following Penstricken since it started in 2015, you may recall that on one occasion I set myself the challenge of writing 6 six-word stories using Thinkamingo’s Story Dice as stimuli. Since I am in an unoriginal sort of mood today, I’ve decided to do it again. The only difference is that this time, in addition to taking my cue from the story dice, I also intend to make each story a different genre, i.e. sci-fi, historical fiction, etc.

As before, I am using one die per story.

TV Review: Maigret

Posted on December 21, 2020 Leave a Comment

I do love a good detective story. I think secretly we all do. Mystery is very compelling. It’s what makes a detective story so captivating; something puzzling has happened and we simply can’t go to bed until we’ve had all our questions answered! That means, of course, that it is important that the reader/viewer of a detective story never know for certain who committed the crime until the last moment (that was always my biggest objection to Columbo!). Those unanswered questions are what keep us on the edge of our seat. Without them, there’s no mystery and no story worth telling. Those detailed conversations you have with your family during the ad-breaks about who you think the killer might be and why are half the fun of watching a detective drama!

And that, dear reader, is the main thing that ruined this first episode of Maigret for me.

TV Review: Life on Mars

Posted on June 21, 2020 Leave a Comment

DCI Sam Tyler (John Simm) is a British police officer who gets hit by a car in 2006 and wakes up in 1973. The rest of the series catalogues his continual clashes with his new colleagues as he tries to navigate the unfamiliar world of the early ’70s and figure out how to return to the present day.

Throwback Thursday: Maigret (TV Review)

Posted on May 21, 2020 Leave a Comment

When I heard that Rowan Atkinson was going to be starring as the main character in ITV’s television adaptation of Georges Simenon’s detective novel Maigret Sets a Trap, my curiosity got the better of me.

TV Review: Death in Paradise (s. 1-2)

Posted on October 20, 2019 1 Comment

It’s a great show to sit down and lose yourself in. It’s funny, endearing, with enough drama to keep you engrossed without adversely affecting your blood pressure.