Death in Paradise - Cast to change in series 9

The Radio Times has reported that Ardal O’Hanlon aka DI Jack Mooney will be departing mid series 9. Never fear though. the series has been renewed for series 10.
There are no details available regarding his replacement yet.

Read the whole article at the Radio Times

"Details surrounding his departure are being kept under wraps, but we can expect him to be replaced by a new lead detective at some point in series nine, which will air in January 2020.

The show has already been commissioned for a 10th series – but we still don’t know who will be heading the drama up after Ardal departs…"

Review: A Meditation on Murder by Robert Thorogood

A Meditation on Murder by Robert Thorogood, January 2015, MIRA, ISBN: 1848453566

Death in Paradise is a successful BBC series in which a British police detective inspector has been sent to run the small police department on the Caribbean island of St Marie. Each week there is another baffling murder case to solve and each episode concludes with all the suspects gathered together in true Poirot-style fashion.

I'm a huge fan of this cosy series which will return to the television with a third iteration of the British Inspector, however A MEDITATION ON MURDER returns to the original DI, Richard Poole. Richard is as strait-laced as they come and wears a suit and tie in the oppressive heat and does not enjoy island life at all and especially sharing his beach-side cabin with a lizard, called Harry.

Richard and his team of Camille, Fidel and Dwayne are summoned to The Retreat as the co-owner, the self-styled Spiritual Guru Aslan, has been found dead in the Meditation Space, a Japanese building with thick paper walls. Five of Aslan's students were locked in the building with him and one, Julia, immediately confesses to Aslan's murder.

Richard is unconvinced that Julia is the guilty party and so the team continue to investigate Aslan and the five guests. Information is slowly uncovered about Aslan and some surprising connections to his guests mean that everyone had a motive to kill him.

As with the tv series, there is lots of recapping – going over “what do we know so far” but we do get to know a little more about Richard and he has a couple of escapades which wouldn't make it to the tv screen in the time limit of a one hour show.

I enjoyed this outing and will read the other two books currently available (with a fourth due in May December 2018). I should say that the author, Robert Thorogood, is the creator of the show, so who better to write these unseen episodes. If you enjoy traditional mysteries and haven't seen the show or if you are a fan of the show then give this one a try.

Karen Meek, August 2017.

Death in Paradise - the book deal

One of my comfort tv series, is the BBC's Death in Paradise which has starred Ben Miller as DI Richard Poole in its first two series. The new series which began this week, sees a major change - and one I haven't brought myself to watch yet...(sniff).

However, a publishing deal just announced, means fans of Richard Poole will be able to spend a bit more time with him. From Book2Book:

MIRA, Harlequin (UK) Ltd's commercial fiction imprint, today announces that it has won the rights to three crime novels by 'Death in Paradise' creator Robert Thorogood.

The three novels will take inspiration from the hit BBC show but will be original stories and will feature Richard Poole as the lead protagonist amongst other show favourites.

'Death in Paradise' is a clever, witty murder-mystery drama set on the fictional Caribbean island of Saint-Marie. The first two series followed the investigations of uptight Met police officer Richard Poole, played by Ben Miller, who first arrived to investigate the murder of his colleague and ended up staying on the idyllic – if slightly dangerous – island. The third series kicked off with a bang on Tuesday 14th January when Poole left the series and new detective DI Humphrey Goodman (Kris Marshall) arrived to replace him.

Thorogood says, "I've been a passionate reader of murder mysteries my whole life, and in many respects 'Death in Paradise' has always been my homage to the queen of the genre, Agatha Christie. As the TV show evolves I am thrilled that MIRA are letting me bring Richard and Camille back together again. I can't wait to see them once more outwitting the very many murderers that live on Saint-Marie."

Harlequin will publish the first novel in hardback in January 2015, with the paperback edition following in June 2015.

TV News: Death in Paradise Cast Change

I've been a huge fan of BBC1's Death in Paradise which will be back for a third series in 2014. A significant change to the cast will occur part way through. From the BBC's Press Office:

It has been announced that Kris Marshall (Lightfields, My Family) is to join the cast of BBC One's hit crime drama Death In Paradise as the latest lead detective, in the new series.

Series three will also see the departure of DI Richard Poole, played by Ben Miller. However, details of how and when Miller will depart remain tightly under wraps.

Joining series regulars Sara Martins, Danny John-Jules, Gary Carr and Don Warrington when filming starts on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe from next month, Marshall will play a bright, but rather disorganised and gawky DI, Humphrey Goodman, who is stuck in a mid-life rut and is looking to find a new life and fresh start.

Kris Marshall said: "I am thrilled to be joining Death In Paradise and finding out a bit more about what makes Humphrey tick. Six months filming on a tropical island with an amazing cast and glorious sunshine? What isn't there to love! I might even get myself a parrot!"

Following two hugely successful series, Miller leaves the show on a high, with an average of almost eight million viewers tuning in to each episode of the second series.

Ben Miller said: "I have absolutely loved my time on Death In Paradise and am sad to be leaving such a successful show, however DI Poole has made no secret of his struggle with the Caribbean heat, so I felt now was a good time to put him out of his misery! I know Kris will do a superb job and I'm delighted to be handing over the detective baton to him."

TV News: BBC Dramas

The BBC have tonight announced some upcoming dramas (more details here):

New

Death Comes To Pemberley
3 x 60 serial
Adapted from P.D James' international bestselling novel in this 200th anniversary year of the first publication of 'Pride & Prejudice', P.D James' remarkably inventive homage to Austen brings the much-loved world to life in a dazzling and original way. Set six years after 'Pride & Prejudice' ends and centering on Austen's best-known characters, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy, the three-parter combines classic period drama with a highly suspenseful and brilliantly crafted murder mystery plot.

Breakdown
8 x 60 series
When his son is snatched on holiday in France, Tony’s exhaustive search fractures his marriage and destroys his life. Exploring the emotional cost of hope and finding when to let go, this relationship thriller shows the impact of a child’s abduction.

The Interceptor
8 x 60 series
A new gripping and high-octane eight-part series about a top secret, state of the art law enforcement team whose unswerving mission is to hunt down some of Britain’s most dangerous and ruthless criminals.

Jamaica Inn
3 x 60 serial
A bold new adaptation of the classic Daphne du Maurier novel, set in 1820 against the foreboding backdrop of windswept Cornish moors, this highly charged, gothic romance follows young Mary Yellan as she becomes entangled in a dangerous criminal world ridden with smuggling and murder, testing her resolve and morality to the very core.

Remember Me
3 x 60 serial
A haunting three-part mystery, on the day a frail old Yorkshireman leaves his own home to move into residential care, he becomes the sole witness to a violent death. His teenage care assistant tries to unravel the riddle of his strange and secretive life, and is drawn into an eerie and dangerous world of lost love and betrayal.

Recommissioned

Death In Paradise - series 3
8 x 60 Series
The warm, witty and intriguing hit crime drama series, which is averaging almost 8 million consolidated viewers per episode in its second run is set to be filmed on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe and will return to BBC One for a third series next year.

Death in the Caribbean

Timothy Williams' Another Sun which was first published in 2011 in France (and was written in French originally) gets its English language debut in October 2012.

If it ever got televised then surely Camille (Sara Martins) from the BBC's Murder in Paradise, set on the fictional island of Saint-Marie but filmed on Guadeloupe, would be a contender for the role of Anne Marie Laveaud?


French judge Anne Marie Laveaud has to rethink her murder investigation techniques when she is assigned to the tiny French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe.

On a plantation in the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, a man's body is found in a pond, riddled with bullets. The victim is Monsieur Calais, a wealthy land-owner. Within twenty-four hours, a suspect is arrested. He had been making death threats against Calais, claiming that land had been stolen from him, and the gun used to shoot Calais was found buried on his property. This, coupled with the fact that the man had just returned from a forty-year exile in French Guyana for murdering his wife, is enough to convince the gendarmes of his guilt.

Anne Marie Laveaud, a French-born judge who has recently been transferred to Guadeloupe, is called in to make a ruling. With a keen sense of compassion for the accused, she must navigate the world of Caribbean justice—very different from what she was used to in France—to confirm her suspicion that all is not as it seems.