Delicious Fromage!

When I pulled it out of the box of newly delivered DVDs, I had never heard of the 2008 BBC series Bonekickers. From the writers of Life on Mars, Bonekickers, set at the fictional Wessex University, is a little bit Kathy Reichs, a little bit Indiana Jones, and a little bit Dan Brown.

Dr. Gillian Magwilde is the spitfire team leader who is afraid of nothing: risking poisonous gases, deep wells, and dark tunnels, she breaks the rules to get her answers. Her cockiness is balanced by the down-to-earth Ben Ergha, who challenges Gillian's quests for stupendous results and attempts to keep her focused and out of danger. Gregory Parton is a loquacious walking encyclopedia with a taste for women and spirits. Their team has newly added Vivian, a young intern who is the target for Gregory's attentions and Gillian's wrath, who has a quest of her own.

The episodes deal with disparate periods of history and characters: the Knights Templar, U.S. slaves, the Roman occupation of Britain, ancient Iraq, Joan of Arc and King Arthur, yet all the stories feature a common thread, an artifact that Gillian's mother spent her life looking for, and which led to her mental demise. The acting is excellent, and the plot lines intriguing. Unfortunately, the script, along with the editing, are bordering on dreadful. Does this make for a bad show? I will argue that it is quite the contrary.

While there are aspects of the show I didn't like (the shaky camera and unusual filming angles, the egotistical attitudes of some of the characters in their introductory scenes, the inconsistencies in Gillian's point of view from the importance non-traditional thinking in one episode to rejecting the same sentiment in Ben's theories in another, some totally cheesy lines and outlandish, convoluted storylines), curiously, as a whole, I liked it. While I prefer a slower character development, once I got over the initial shock of being thrown right into the series, I enjoyed the historic backgrounds of the show, the 'flashbacks,' and the settings. I was interested in the personal dynamics between the characters, and I even laughed at some of those cheesy lines, such as Gregory yelling at a gang of murderous thugs "Don't mess with me; I'm an archaeologist!"

Due to low ratings, the show only lasted the one season, about which I feel rather disappointed. While I felt Bonekickers took itself a bit too seriously sometimes, it was a good ride. I would have delighted in seeing them tackle and solve more long-standing archaeological mysteries, take on more baddies, and deliver, with a straight face, lines like "Right, bras off" (you'll just have to watch to find out).

Goodman = good writer!

I've written about Carol Goodman before. Perhaps it's obvious that I am a major fan of hers. I have become even more of one with her latest release, Arcadia Falls.

After setting her last two suspense novels in Europe, Goodman has returned to the northeast United States. Like The Seduction of Water and The Lake of Dead Languages, Arcadia Falls takes place in a boarding school, with a teacher finding her place in the world after tragedy strikes her life. Meg Rosenthal, a young widow, moves from the Southern U.S. with her teenage daughter, Sally, to teach folklore and english at Arcadia Falls, a former artists' colony. During an end of summer ritual, a student, Isabel, plunges to her death. Meg discovers how this parallels the death of a young woman artist several decades earlier, and the connection to Isabel's death. Meg embarks on a mystery of how the dean, Ivy St. Clare, ties into the two stories.

Filled with descriptions of dark, gloomy woods, eerie old houses, creepy fairy tales and eccentric characters, Arcadia Falls is a suspenseful romp that will keep readers up during the night. Just make sure you close the blinds and don't peek out the window!