72 PETERBOROUGH TELEGRAPH www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk Thursday, August 15, 2013

BOOKS & DVD/BLU-RAY By Alex Gordon

books dvd

bones are forever real murders Kathy Reichs Charlaine Harris Arrow £7.99 Orion £7.99

TV hit Bones has created more fans for HER Sookie Stackhouse books were turned Reichs’ forensic anthropologist Dr into TV vampire hit True Blood, but Char- Romance and a Temperance Brennan. Tempe is horrified laine first wrote a series of Christie-like when she finds the body of a dead new- mystery novels featuring small town Geor- born baby in a cupboard in a seedy Mon- gia librarian and sleuth Aurora Teagarden, treal apartment. Two more tiny mummi- an American Miss Marple. Aurora and her fied corpses are also found. The trail of the fellow members of the Real Murders Club missing mother takes Temp to remote Yel- meet once a month to analyse famous cas- power game lowknife where she and detective Andrew es, but soon they’ve got all-too-real mur- Ryan hit a wall of icy silence as the mystery ders to solve. Also available is Aurora’s sec- deepens. Terrific! ond case A Bone to Pick. the white queen Anchor Bay, cert 15 DVD 3-disc set £39.99 STAR RATING STAR RATING MANY thorny issues arose from (out of 10) (out of 10) 9 8 the War of the Roses, the back- cloth to this 10-part BBC1 bodice- ripping romp. Note is key to mother’s past Purists complained the adap- tation of Philippa Gregory’s books forgive me was too nice and shiny for medieval Lesley Pearse times, missing the point that it’s en- Penguin £7.99 tertainment. A historical romance packed GLOBAL best-seller Lesley with sex and scheming. I reckon Pearse returns with a heart- viewers preferred Max Irons as a tugging tale that’ll hold you in hunky Edward lV and Rebecca Fer- its spell. guson as a luminous blonde Eliza- beth Woodville without the black It’s the story of 20-year-old teeth, greasy hair and running Eva Patterson, who comes home sores that were part of life in 1464. to find her mother, Flora, dead The fateful die is cast when, de- in the bath. There’s a note beg- spite the houses of Lancaster and ging: ‘Forgive Me’. Until this day York vying for control of the Eng- Eva had been happy at home with in Flora’s past. lish throne, young Yorkist King Ed- what with Elizabeth’s adversary her parents and younger brother With believable characters ward falls passionately for lovely Margaret Beaufort doing all she and sister, but her mother’s sui- you will grow to love and a beauti- Lancastrian Elizabeth who won’t can to ensure the throne for her son cide changes everything. fully-written plot, this is another let him have his wicked way un- Henry Tudor and Anne Neville be- When Eva discovers Flora left well-deserved winner. less he makes her his queen. This ing used as a pawn in her father’s her an artist’s studio in London in Review by Lisa Hylton puts the cat amongst the pigeons power game. her will, she realises how little she Name another Pearse hit. as scheming Lord Warwick (James Name another TV historical knows about her mother’s past. Entries to Alex Gordon, For- Frain) was planning a wedding al- series about a queen. Entries to STAR RATING Flora had been a successful give competition, by Thursday, liance with France. Meanwhile Alex Gordon, Queen competi- (out of 10) artist back in the ‘60s and has left August 22. Eddie may be lucky to hold steady, tion, by Thursday, August 22. 8 a string of cryptic diaries, which set Eva on a trail seeking answers. She encounters a psychic who dvd dvd warns her to beware of a ‘sleep- STAR RATING ing serpent’, which she soon dis- covers refers to a shocking crime (out of 10) why didn’t they ask evans? 9 Acorn, cert 15 McGovern at his best DVD £17.99 dvd accused: series two Acorn, cert 15 T H I S A g a t h a DVD 2-disc set £19.99 Christie tale was the gatekeepers Metrodome, cert 15 re-made as a Mar- DVD £17.99 TWO performances stand out ple mystery in in this second series of Jimmy 2011, but this 1980 McGovern stories about people version starring THIS is a brutally honest docu- in the dock. Francesca An- mentary about the cycle of death Playing a mum living on a nis, James Warwick and Connie in the war between Israelis and tough estate whose son is killed Booth is true to the book. When Palestinians. Surprisingly, six in gang violence won Olivia Col- Bobby Jones finds a man at the former heads of Israel’s home- man a Best Supporting Actress clambers in to the widower’s bottom of a cliff, he hears his land security agency, Shin Bet, Bafta, while macho Sean Bean bed. McGovern’s gritty North- last words: “Why didn’t they ask talk openly about the bombings stunned fans playing Simon ern stories won’t cheer you up, Evans?” And so Bobby’s plunged and assassinations they have or- who, in blonde wig and high- but they pack a punch. into a grand old Christie riddle. dered, and the scars Israel has heels, becomes Tracie who’s In which McGovern series In which historical series suffered in retaliatory attacks. accused of murdering his/her did Robbie Coltrane play a did Francesca star recently? All agree that ultimately the on- boyfriend’s wife. There’s more criminal psychologist? Entries Entries to Alex Gordon, Evans ly way to peace is through nego- uneasy viewing in an episode to Alex Gordon, Accused comp. competition. tiation. Don’t hold your breath! starring Sheridan Smith as Name a film set in Israel. En- STAR RATING Charlotte, a palliative care nurse STAR RATING STAR RATING tries to Alex Gordon, Gatekeep- who gives morphine to a dying (out of 10) (out of 10) (out of 10) ers competition. 8 woman and shortly afterwards 8 7