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Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Summer Movies 2019: The Italian Rapscallion

Time for more summer movies, where plants are the true stars! This summer we're continuing with a few more episodes from the British cozy mystery series, Rosemary and Thyme, which aired from 2003 to 2007.

By season 2, Rosemary Boxer and Laura Thyme are busy with their landscaping busy and have demonstrated a knack for uncovering mysteries. Rosemary boxer is played by Felicity Kendal and Laura Type is played by Pam Ferris.



The Italian Rapscallion (Season 2, Episode 12)

In this episode, Rosemary and Laura have been invited to the Italian Riviera to help the flighty Emma Standish prepare her new restaurant for its grand opening the following week. Emma seems more interested in hospitality than the practical aspects of planning and running a restaurant, and relies on Rosemary and Laura to figure out some of the details.

Emma introduces them to the charming Fabrizio Biaggi and his friend Janice Alexander, whom he is helping to find a new home. Fabrizio invites them all to a garden tour given by Dr. Llewellyn at a nearby botanical garden.

While on tour, Laura realizes that Janice Alexander was formerly a police inspector in England who had worked in her old precinct. Following the tour, the group moves to a party at Emma's home high on the bluffs overlooking the Ligurian Sea. The wine flows and everyone is in a festive mood.

During the party Laura discovers Janice's scarf, and then her body in the shrubs. The police are called and the investigation begins. Fabrizio  was the last person to be seen with Janice and is arrested. Rosemary and Laura are not convinced that he is responsible.

True to form, they launch an investigation of their own while they work feverishly to finish the landscaping for Ristorante Emma. Their colorful cast of characters includes a number of rapscallions with compromising elements from their pasts, from petty theft, to impersonation, to sketchy sources of income. But does that make them capable of murder?

Rosemary and Laura think not, and dig deeper into the clues, characters, and motivations that drive them. They finally put it all together and identify the real culprit who is brought to justice. They finish their landscaping, but end the project by helping their disorganized friend pull off the grand opening of her restaurant, in the roles of cook and wait staff!

I enjoyed seeing glimpses of the Villa Orengo and gardens at Hanbury Botanical Gardens, at Ventimiglia in Liguria, Italy, where this episode was filmed. This is a great series if you'd like to add some light entertainment as part of your summer fun. I found the series on DVD in our local library and available for purchase online; a synopsis of all episodes on Wikipedia; and a list of filming locations on Wikimedia!

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