BBC1's "Death In Paradise" Brings On The Guilty Pleasures

Unlike many other British whodunits that are set in darker, drearier locations like the streets of London, BBC1's "Death In Paradise" is a TV series (created by Robert Thorogood) about a team of police solving crimes in sunny, fictional French Caribbean island of Saint-Marie, just off Guadeloupe.

The show recently ended its second series (that's what they call a "season" in the UK) and has been renewed for a third one. When Series 2 premiered in early January 2013, the growing and appreciative fan-base of "Death In Paradise"  contributed to a whopping 8 million viewers!

Having a paradise isle like Saint-Marie as a base for murders is something Red Dot Diva can really identify with. After all, take away all the swanky or scifi-like architecture, and Red Dot Island is nothing more than one hot little swamp island, not without her own tales of bloody crimes too.

Add in a dash of that crisp British accent, red herrings and puzzles to the tropical setting, and "Death In Paradise" becomes quite an entertaining guilty pleasure. Even if it does fall prey to paradise island-Caribbean stereotypes and formulaic old-skool whodunit story lines with crime-solving so lack of real forensic evidence that one actually misses Horatio Caine's sunglasses. (YEAHHHHH!!!) Also, those *aha!* (cue lightbulb cartoon bubble) moments unfold in a terribly clichéd manner as well. 

Still, it wouldn't kill for Red Dot Diva to admit that the light-hearted series had continued to pull her in - week after week.

Book Review: Get Your Kids Reading with "Sherlock Sam and the Missing Heirloom in Katong"

While reading "Sherlock Sam and the Missing Heirloon in Katong", the first book of Epigram Book's new children's series by A.J. Low, Red Dot Diva found herself hurled back in time to when she was a long-haired little girl, devouring book after book that were investigative in nature.

Her love for investigative novels started early with Enid Blyton's "The Secret Seven", followed by "Famous Five", and progressed to a little of Hardy Boys/ Nancy Drew. Later on as a pre-teen, she especially enjoyed reading "The Three Investigators" series, relishing the more intricate plots and their witty dialogue.

These detective-mystery novels brought her farther along her book journey towards Dame Agatha Christie's works and inevitably, to one of her favorite writer of all time - Arthur Conan Doyle and his creation - the wonderfully eccentric master detective, Sherlock Holmes.

So it was of little coincidence that the Chinese name of "Sherlock Sam"'s main character is Cher Lock ("It's SHER-Lock!!!"). An intelligent, precocious young boy who's also growing up to be the typical Singaporean foodie, Samuel considers Sherlock Holmes (and Batman) to be his detective heroes.