Hemingway Shows Up Again

One of my favorite movies is Midnight In Paris where Owen Wilson, a would-be novelist, sits on a church step at midnight and a vintage car pulls up to invite him along for a night on the town, then he’s whisked back to a time when F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and other artists are coming into their own in the city. The actor Corey Stoll plays Hemingway and Kathy Bates plays his agent, Gertrude Stein. As a writer, it was fun to hear their discussions about what makes a great book. Hemingway definitely had strong opinions. So, I got a kick out of watching Steve Lund play Hemingway in the latest episode of FRANKIE DRAKE Mysteries that HH and I watched.

The setting for the show is 1920s Toronto, and Frankie Drake is the city’s first female detective. Frankie Drake is nothing like Miss Scarlet in Miss Scarlet and The Duke, two Victorian era detectives. Miss Scarlet is serious about proving herself and earning a good reputation. Frankie is not above bending the law and social expectations to have a little fun. Hemingway is a newspaper reporter who irritates her. It’s mutual. He’s ambitious to write more than just columns for the paper, so he and Frankie end up working together to solve a murder so that he can have the big scoop of a story. For me, Lund did a good job of playing his part.

The Frankie Drake Mysteries is a little bit flippant, a little naughty, and so far has had solid mystery plots. Makes for some light entertainment on a Friday night.