I loved the 2020 book Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman.
The Thursday Murder Club is a 2025 American crime comedy based on the book.
Its plot follows a group of elderly amateur sleuths who attempt to solve a murder.
Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, and Celia Imrie. Big names.
For me the movie started too slowly. I was disappointed.
BUT the second half got increasingly entertaining. I’m looking forward to the proposed sequel.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
WAY too long. It would have been excellent at half the length.
Intriguing plot.
Some good twists.
Ruth Ware has written many popular novels. Often often compared to that of Agatha Christie.
The Woman in Suite 11 (2025) is a direct sequel to The Woman in Cabin 10 which I haven’t read.
When the invitation to attend the press opening of a luxury Swiss hotel—owned by reclusive billionaire Marcus Leidmann—arrives, it’s like the answer to a prayer.
Three years after the birth of her youngest child, Lo Blacklock is ready to reestablish her journalism career, but post-pandemic travel journalism is a very different landscape from the one she left ten years ago.
The chateau on the shores of Lake Geneva is everything Lo’s ever dreamed of, and she hopes she can snag an interview with Marcus.
Unfortunately, he proves to be even more difficult to pin down than his reputation suggests.
When Lo gets a late-night call asking her to come to Marcus’s hotel room, she agrees despite her own misgivings. She’s greeted, however, by a woman claiming to be Marcus’s mistress, and in life-or-death jeopardy.
What follows is a thrilling cat-and-mouse pursuit across Europe, forcing Lo to ask herself just how much she’s willing to sacrifice to save this woman…and if she can even trust her?
Fool Me Once is a British television series … adapted from the 2016 Harlan Coben novel of the same name.
… As of 12 March 2024 it is the eighth most viewed English language Netflix series of all time …
Michelle Keegan as Maya Stern carries the show.
Adeel Akhtar as DS Sami Kierce is excellent. A memorable performance.
All of the cast is good, actually.
A newly single mom is grieving her husband when, just two weeks after his funeral, she sees him appearing alive and well — on her nanny cam.
Was he actually murdered?
Or are there darker powers at play?
Reviews are mixed. But my only major complaint is too frequent use of flashbacks.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
I read the book, as well. Not nearly as good as the TV adaptation.
An entertaining novel with a lot of humour. Easy read.
Emergency physician AJ “Doc” Docker works in busiest hospital in Houston.
AJ Docker is no stranger of violence, but the brutal torture of murder of an innocent, young patient demands a response.
Together with his policeman friend and Banshee, a loyal police dog, he sets out on a quest for justice for his lost patient.
Doc’s investigation leads him into the dark world of organized crime, and when the killers come after him, it becomes a fight for survival.
Will he survive to find justice for his patient or will he be the next victim of the Dyyavola, the Devil?
Not the most popular. But who’s BEST at storytelling using the platform of YouTube.
I’d say a young Mexican artist known as Gawx is best right now. And I’m not particularly interested in art.
Click PLAY or watch his recent masterpiece on YouTube.
Gawx is somewhat similar to Van Neistat, whom his brother calls the best on YouTube.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
The majority of YouTubers would likely name the Vlog Father, Casey Neistat, as best of all time.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Casey’s video that inspired ME most was Make It Count (2012). Brilliant.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
I’ve mixed feelings about Freida McFadden books.
But this one (2022) kept me going.
A woman wakes up every morning starting over again — something like a Groundhog Day experience.
She’s a practicing physician specializing in brain injury so knows what of she speaks.
Tess who suffers from a traumatic brain injury and severe short-term memory loss, not recognizing her own home or the man who claims to be her husband.
After receiving a cryptic text message warning her not to trust the man calling himself her husband, the unreliable narrator, Tess, must piece together the truth of her life amidst a web of confusion and manipulation.
So far — I’m planning to keep traveling in the new year.
I start Kilimanjaro on Feb. 14, 2026.
To train and gain some altitude acclimatization, I’ll be in Ecuador above 3000m for some weeks prior.
I have flights booked through to Kenya. And will be deciding my East Africa itinerary from there.
Then most likely to Dubai. And Oman for hiking and cycling.
Then back to Calgary for some spring skiing.
After that …
… living every day as if it’s my last. 😀
I’d celebrated Christmas with my parents all but two years of my life.
But with both Mom and Dad gone in 2025, joined my brother Rob and his wife Yvonne for the Yule in La Quinta, California. This was their 4th winter renting a beautiful place from Canadian friends.
Loved it!
The Mediterranean climate is perfect for year round cycling and hiking.
YES it’s a bit odd celebrating the traditional Great White North Christmas in a town at 20C.
The municipal park is nicely decorated for the holidays. We walked Charlie there once or twice a day.
Highlight for me was FREE COFFEE at City Hall !
This is ME awaiting my next free Latte. 😀
Actually the grub was pretty good at home with Rob doing much of the cooking and kitchen clean-up.
We only ate at a restaurant one time. Home cooking is the rule.
When we wanted an orange, we picked one off the tree in the back yard.
I spent a fair bit of time at the library.
La Quinta place names are mostly Spanish. There’s much recognition of the sacrifices of military. And the First Nations.
We had a hot tub about every second night.
California should probably just become the 11th Canadian Province. 😀
Consider me won over to the snowbird annual vacation.
We’ve also scheduled Christmas dinner for January 11th in Calgary.
30th book in the Lucas Davenport series. Always entertaining.
The daughter of a U.S. Senator is monitoring her social media presence when she finds a picture of herself on a strange blog. And there are other pictures… of the children of other influential Washington politicians, walking or standing outside their schools, each identified by name. Surrounding the photos are texts of vicious political rants from a motley variety of radical groups.
It’s obviously alarming — is there an unstable extremist tracking the loved ones of powerful politicians with deadly intent?
But when the FBI is called in, there isn’t much the feds can do. The anonymous photographer can’t be pinned down to one location or IP address, and more importantly, at least to the paper-processing bureaucrats, no crime has actually been committed.
With nowhere else to turn, influential Senators decide to call in someone who can operate outside the FBI’s constraints: Lucas Davenport.
I’ve been a big fan of the William Warwick books since the beginning.
Seem’s Archer is wrapping up with the 8th and final.
It’s good — but perhaps not as good as the early novels.
| Nothing Ventured | (2019) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Hidden in Plain Sight | (2020) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Turn a Blind Eye | (2021) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Over My Dead Body | (2021) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Next in Line | (2022) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Traitors Gate | (2023) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| An Eye for An Eye | (2024) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| End Game | (2025) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
London, 2012. The eyes of the world are on Britain as the country prepares to host the Olympic Games.
But the glare of the spotlight makes London a target for some of the most dangerous people on earth. And the moment the bid is won, an international conspiracy is set in motion to unleash a devastating attack that will leave the world in chaos.
One man stands between triumph and disaster: Commander William Warwick, heading up Scotland Yard’s elite team.
But as he pursues the shadowy organisation, he sets off a deadly game of cat and mouse which will take him from the bustling streets of London to the hidden corridors of power.
Can Warwick stop the assassin before the greatest show on earth becomes a catastrophe …
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Rick McCharles 