Advantages: funny, heartwarming, fantastic characters
Disadvantages: a little "scrappy" in places

...I'm already a fan of the No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, so it's no surprise that I like the 8th addition to the family - The Good Husband of Zebra Drive. As usual, there are superb characters with a decent narrative holding them together and a lot of humour; pretty much what I've come to expect from Alexander McCall Smith. In fact, the only criticism I have is that the narrative isn't quite as good as some of the other books in the series and it's a bit "scrappy" in places, not flowing quite as well as it should. This isn't my favourite novel in the series, but it's certainly an entertaining and worthwhile read. Alexander McCall Smith also writes the 44 Scotland Street series (incidentally, my favourite of his works) and a series featuring philosopher Isabel Dalhousie, among others. He is a Scottish author and those two series... Read review

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Advantages: Quite fun to read
Disadvantages: Poor writing style, annoying heroine

...NB This book's full title is A Detective at Death's Door - ciao have cut the title short. I have emailed them about it. Introduction H R F Keating is most famous for his books featuring the Indian Inspector Ghote, of which I have read one or two short stories and quite enjoyed. So when I saw this book in my local library, I expected it to be a good read. I should know by now that when I have high expectations, I am likely to be disappointed. This book was easy to read, but was certainly not anywhere near the standard that I was expecting it to be. The author H R F Keating has written over 20 books in the Inspector Ghote series beginning in 1964, but has also written a substantial number of other books, including five featuring Detective Harriet Martens, of which this book is one. Keating was the reviewer for crime fiction... Read review

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Advantages: Catchy tunes with some great lyrics
Disadvantages: Sound can get tedious after a few listen's

...The Pigeon Detectives have been waiting to unleash this album on the globe, and rightly so. 'Wait For Me', released on label Dance To The Radio, clearly puts the five-piece on the map as more than just friends of the Kaiser Chiefs. Bubbly guitars, northern sung vocals, and an album full of indie pop, The Pigeon Detectives could have one of 2007's success stories under their belt. Track one, the single that enhanced their fanbase ten fold, sounds awesome. 'Romantic Type' is captivating, mixing paces throughout and of course we must mention the sort after "1! 2! 3! 4!", which comes before a rocking guitar solo. This starts an underlying theme of love through the record. The transition to track two 'I Found Out' was clever. Including moments of chanting through the backing vocals and clapping when the instruments take a well... Read review

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Advantages: Fun and nice characters
Disadvantages: None

...I do own quite a lot of the Disney collection - not all yet but still a fair few! This is another one in my collection and one that I often used to watch as a young child and yet it doesn't seem to be as well known as some of the others. This is the 26th animated film made by Disney and was released in 1986. The story: The film is about a mouse called Basil who is a mouse detective from London. He and his sidekick Dr Dawson must find the whereabouts of popular toymaker Flaversham who was kidnapped by his arch enemy Professor Ratigan. Basil must find Flaversham soon as he has a young daughter Olivia who has been left behind all alone. His investigation takes him all over in his search - will he be able to find Flaversham and reunite him and his daughter? The cast: Quite a few different people do the voices in this film... Read review

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Advantages: Different and very entertaining.
Disadvantages: None.

...I came across this movie while searching through my brother's DVD collection and was quite interested as I had watched the T.V. series ' The singing Detective ' by Dennis Potter (which I thought was brilliant ) I did'nt know it had been made into a movie and on seeing that Robert Downey Jr was playing the lead role among some other good actors I thought it was worth borrowing. Although based on the TV series of the same name and the same storyline there are a few differences.................. The TV series is set in 1940's London with a big band music theme whereas the Movie is set in 1950's America with a Rock 'n' Roll musical theme ! Dan Dark (Robert Downey Jr.) is a successful writer, who writes fictional detective stories, but his life and his writing has come to a bit of a standstill when he is admitted to hospital... Read review

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Advantages: easy read, relaxing
Disadvantages: too short

..., if the writer had gone down a different path as the whole tone of the book would have been changed, creating an imbalance of sorts. But if the lack of gripping stuff (as in violence and murder) puts you off then just read the book for its depiction of the lady detective herself Mma Ramotswe. She is the true star of the story. She comes alive right before your eyes. Contrary to your regular troubled detective, she leads a pretty healthy life and has her head firmly grounded on her shoulders. She has dealt with her fair share of unhappiness and heartbreak which has made her a smarter woman. She is truly an enchanting character. You might not remember the cases that she dealt with but the character of Precious Ramotswe will stay with you for a long time after you have read the book. She is truly one of a kind.... Read review

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Advantages: Every song could easily be a hit, Catchy melodies and memorable lyrics
Disadvantages: Too short in length, the songs get stuck in your head.. could be annoying!

...Who are the pigeon detectives I hear you ask? Well I doubt it very much that they spend their days looking for pigeons. They're an indie rock band from Leeds who formed back in the days of 2002 and didn't really get their big break until last year ('06) where they performed at the Carling Leeds and Reading Festivals. Who do they sound like? They don't sound too dissimilar to the other vast amounts of up and coming indie bands in the UK.. good shoes, the view, the cribs to name but a few. In my opinion, The Pigeon Detectives are perhaps the cream of the crop of this particular genre of music as they have added a hint of punk-pop to this cocktail of sound. The Album When I first put this album on, there were quite a few songs I'd recognised, 'Romantic Type', 'I Found Out' and 'I'm Not Sorry' as these songs had gained... Read review

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Advantages: The two best comedy films around
Disadvantages: Could have more special features than it does

...Ace Ventura Pet Detective, How are we this afternoon, alrigthy then. Ace ventura was one of the funniest comedy movies to be released in the 1990's. Just after the success of Dumb and Dumber, Carrey moved into the remembral role of the pet detective who searches for lost and stolen pets. In both movies however, he is called in to help for the search of two unique animals/mammals. The first film engages in Ace Ventura searching the Miami Dolphin mascot that has been kidnpped, featuring great supporing cast such as Courtney Cox (Friends) and Dan Marino (Miami Dolphins kicker). The film is witty and you will literally laugh out loud at Carreys character, from fighting with the Maimi Dolphins Mascot to being eaten by a shark, you will find everything in the film funny. One of the biggest hits in the younger generation, this DVD... Read review

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