I love murder mysteries. I love reading them. I love watching them on tv, film and in the theatre. I love talking about them with my family and friends. And now I love blogging about them. I cannot state how much I love murder mysteries of all kinds.

I've been a fan of Murder, She Wrote (MSW) since I was a little girl. It used to be a special treat to be allowed to watch it. I can remember being thrilled that I was actually watching a programme with the word 'murder' in the title! With my parents' consent as well! Shocking. Of course, it isn't exactly CSI - you rarely see the dead body and in an episode I watched recently the body lying on the morgue slab was visibly breathing. You could even see his eyes moving under the lids! Brilliant! (In case you're wondering, it was episode 2, series 1, called 'Deadly Lady' about a millionaire's supposed death aboard his luxury yacht).

I also really loved the ITV original Miss Marple series starring Joan Hickson, mainly because the era was re-created so convincingly. The clothing, the accents, the way they made it look real and not like a pantomime version of the fifties (are you listening, ITV makers of recent Poirot episodes??). I'm not entirely sure why, but the actors looked at home in their costumes - which in fact made them look less like costumes and just their regular clothes. In the new episodes of Agatha Christie adaptations the clothes seem to be wearing them, not the other way round.

I was cajoled into starting this blog by my brother (skinnyelbows.blogspot.com) who seems to think that my almost encyclopedic knowledge of certain mystery series is too good not to share with the world. So here I am! I'm not sure where to start, so I might start with the next one I watch... won't be long then!