by C.C. Benison

C.C. Benison is a Canadian writer. This book is the first in the "Her Majesty Investigates Trilogy".

If you like fiction with a sense of humour and a good mystery as well, these are the books to read! The opening installment sees a footman's demise within the halls of Buckingham Palace itself, and how a humble housemaid, Jane Bee comes to assist the Queen in solving the crime!

This book had me laughing out loud in parts, and very eager to find out who-dun-it at the end! A great read!

(Bantam Books Paperback - ISBN: 0-553-57476-0)

by C.C. Benison

The second in the Her Majesty Investigates series, once again sees faithful and intelligent housemaid Jane Bee unravelling another mysterious death, this time on the Queen's estate at Sandringham.

Every bit as enjoyable as the first novel in the series, this one revolves around a scandal over 50 years old, tied into the present day murder of a woman who happens to be a dead-ringer for the Queen herself.

There is a third novel to the series as well, it's entitled "Death at Windsor Castle", and I am presently about halfway through it, and I'm enjoying it immensely too.

(Bantam Books Paperback - ISBN: 0-553-57477-9)
Death at Windsor Castle: ISBN: 0-553-57478-7

Having only seen the ads on tv for this movie, my husband and I decided to buy the DVD. We are both interested in computer generated graphics, and this film looked to be a real riot! We were not disappointed!

We've watched it a couple of times now and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a film about how cats are planning to take over the world and how dogs are secret agents trying to stop their sinister plans, but its filled with lots of sight gags and enough tender moments to make you say "awwwww"...

Jeff Goldblum plays a scientist trying to find a cure for dog allergies, but the real star of the show is the sweet Beagle named Lou.

Also interesting to note is that some of the movie was filmed in Victoria British Columbia Canada at a fantastic heritage house called Craigdarroch Castle.

My husband and I visited this castle just about 6 weeks ago, so when we recognised some features from a few of the more memorable rooms in the castle in this movie, we were thrilled.

(If your browser is java enabled, you can view a room or two here. You'll see a panoramic view. The pictures are from my trip.)

Anyways, I digress... Get the DVD of Cats and Dogs... Good fun for the whole family, and the DVD has some extras such as screensavers, wallpaper, and a "My Pets Secret Identity" game... tres cool.

The long awaited solo album of "Baby Spice" girl Emma Bunton is finally in stores.

"A Girl Like Me" is a pure pop delight! Emma's vocals are solid and sweet, upbeat and contemporary while at times reminding me a lot of my all time favorite female vocalist, Lulu (of "To Sir With Love" fame.)

The tracks which stand out the most for me... its hard to pick just a few, I am impressed with the whole album, but I immediately liked the following: The title track, "A Girl Like Me", the first track "What Took You So Long?", the deliciously retro-feeling "Sunshine on a Rainy Day", and the dancey "We're Not Gonna Sleep Tonight".

But the stand out track for me personally was Emma's very faithful cover of the 80's Edie Brickell hit "What I Am" capturing the same great funky groove which made me like that song in the first place, way to go Emma!

If you like the Spice Girls, (which I do,) you will definitely love this CD. I hope Emma has a long career!

Editors rating: 5 stars.

* Another Spice Solo that I really recommend is Melanie C's "Northern Star" CD. I love every track! - 5 Stars too!

"Sterling Moon is my favorite specialty coffee!" David E. Brown,
[Billy Joel's former lead guitarist for 11 years] Gloucester, MA

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