Latest reviews: Cozy crime that is right up your Street

THE MADAME BLANC MYSTERIES: SERIES 4

Acorn, cert 12

DVD 2-disc set £27.99

The Channel 5 cozy crime series is going great guns with viewers who love its diverse characters, mysteries to be solved, and its charming French location in fictional Sainte Victoire.

Full marks must go to creator and star, former Coronation Street actress Sally Lindsay who plays antiques expert Jean White who stumbled into the private eye business when trying to find out how her dodgy husband came to be murdered in France.

The episodes here pick up straight after Series 3 when Jean and Dom (Steve Edge - pictured with Sally) stopped playing will-they-won’t-they and confessed they had feelings for each other. But, true love often travels on a gravel road and the couple have to navigate their romance around bringing criminals to justice.

In the Christmas Special a puppeteer taking part in a festive market is murdered, but matters of the heart are to the fore as Jeremy (Robin Askwith) and Judith (Sue Holderness) discover their marriage is a sham, the ceremony was conducted by a crook disguised as a priest. Other small criminal matters to tidy up include unravelling a curse from an ancient Egyptian god, an unconscious man being found in a drifting boat, an attack on the caretaker at the local museum, and a trip to Malta to see a historical document, but it has just been stolen.

The show has been described as ‘Antiques Roadshow meets Midsomer Murders’ and that’s not necessarily a bad thing as the popularity of Madame Blanc clearly demonstrates. Sally Lindsay must be delighted to be amongst a small group of actresses who’ve made it big after the Cobbles.

8/10

SCREAMBOAT

Signature, cert 18

Blu-ray £14.99

Fake blood’s laid on with a spray gun, which is to be expected from the gore fiends behind the (gulp!) Terrifier series which has seen a few folks with dodgy tummies flee cinemas.

This is a manic send-up of Steamboat Willie which launched careers for an animator called Walt Disney and a mouse called Mickey. Only here our anti-hero is a murderous New York rat played by David Howard Thornton, ditching his Art The Clown character for that of a rabid rodent.

The parade of potential victims on the Staten Island Ferry include a group of partying girls dressed in what might be mistaken (or not!) for Disney character costumes. Black humour galore!

7/10

UNDER THE VINES: SERIES 1

Acorn, cert 12

DVD 2-disc set £24.99 & on Digital

It’s sour grapes at first sight in this fizzy romantic New Zealand comedy, but BBC1 is hoping viewers will find it to be a drop of the good stuff. Sydney socialite Daisy (Rebecca Gibney) and grumpy London lawyer Louis (Charles Edwards) have never met, but they’ve jointly inherited a money pit - a failing vineyard in Peak View, New Zealand.

It’s a match made in hell. She’s broke. He’s disgraced. It’s dislike at first sight. Neither has ever done a hard day’s work and they know nothing about making wine so their chances of popping celebratory corks in the end look remote. Meanwhile a neighbouring vineyard owner reckons he can swindle the naive newcomers. Cheers fans!

8/10

HIDDEN NATURE

Nora Roberts; Piatkus £22

Nora Roberts is a phenomenon with over 200 bestsellers, including her J.D. Robb thriller series. Fans get everything they want here - romance, mystery and danger. After being shot, Maryland Natural Resources cop Sloan Cooper seeks rest and recuperation at her parents’ mountain resort. But Sloan can’t help getting involved when a young woman’s abducted from a grocery store, and she isn’t the first to have vanished. It’s another winner.

CREEPY CRAWLY

Andrew Lowe; Vinci Books £9.99

Beware, the title is very accurate. No nodding off after s nice relaxing read with this tormentingly twisty treat as DI Jake Sawyer hunts a killer who buries his victims alive across the Peak District. To twist the knife into victims’ families, video cams have been placed in the shallow graves. S-h-u-d-d-e-r!

SECRETS IN ST IVES

Deborah Fowler; A&B £22

Sun, sea, and sleuthing in Cornwall, the perfect getaway for cozy crime fans. Following their first case last Christmas, Chief Inspector Louis Pepplatt and former solicitor, grieving Merrin McKenzie, find a cold case alarmingly heating up and secrets are bubbling out as they seek answer to the disappearance of a local farmer.

Reviews: Alex Gordon

9/10

NEVER FLINCH

Stephen King; Hodder £25

The horror maestro has a soft spot for his creation, Holly Gibney, the sleuthing spinster from the Finder’s Keepers PI agency. I share his love. Calling on her friend for help with the case of a psycho killer threatening to kill 13 innocent people and one guilty party, Detective Izzy Jaynes describes Holly as ‘Sherlock Holmes in low heels, pastel blouses, and tweed skirts.’ Stretched thin, Holly gets involved in Izzy’s ever-darkening case, but she’s also trying to protect an outspoken feminist from being assassinated. Gasps and chills galore!

10/10

ESPERANCE

Adam Oyebanji; Arcadia/Quercus £10.99

Fancy something different? This should fill the bill for everyone from thriller to sci-fi fans. There’s a mind-boggling murder involving a father and son drowning in seawater in a 20th floor Chicago apartment with a dead barracuda beside them, far from the sea. Meanwhile, in England Abi and her friend Holly are on a mission to recover a set of heirlooms and trace descendants of those who died in the shipwreck of The Esperance in 1791. Oyebanji ties these events to a fast-moving thrill ride of a story.

8/10