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Speaker 1: You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast

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Speaker 1: from Newstalks.

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Speaker 2: The'd be twelve on News Talks. He'd be Catherine Rains,

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Speaker 2: our book reviewers. Here is she is every Saturday Morning

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Speaker 2: with her picks for the weekend. Hey Catherine, Good morning Jack. Okay,

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Speaker 2: let's start off with The Cat who Cracked a Cold

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Speaker 2: Case by Lt. Shearer.

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Speaker 3: So this is a little bit bizarre maybe, and you do,

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Speaker 3: of course, have to suspend a lot of reality for this.

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Speaker 3: But it follows Lulu Lewis, who's a retired police detective

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Speaker 3: and life takes a very unforgettable turn for her when Conrad,

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Speaker 3: who's a very special talking cat, turns up into her

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Speaker 3: life and he introduces himself to her, and so, for

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Speaker 3: fairly obvious reasons, this ability remains a very closely guarded

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Speaker 3: secret and they enjoy their lives together. They live on

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Speaker 3: a canal boat called the Lark, and it's this very

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Speaker 3: easy companionship. But Lulu has this very keen investigative eye

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Speaker 3: and you follow Conrad the cat's very witty feline quips.

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Speaker 3: And in the latest escripage there's several mysteries rolled up

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Speaker 3: into one. So a serial killer from Lulu's past who's

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Speaker 3: murder again, but this time in Manchester, away from her

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Speaker 3: home in London. And a theft of some very expensive

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Speaker 3: figurines stolen from a fellow canal or boat owner who's

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Speaker 3: completely heartbroken about this as they had been given to

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Speaker 3: her by her late husband. And there's this very mysterious

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Speaker 3: suitor who is pursuing Lulu's widowed friend Jane. And so

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Speaker 3: Lulu and Conrad helped to solve all of these three

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Speaker 3: places along with the local police, and she discusses clues

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Speaker 3: with the cat and he's kind of really almost like

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Speaker 3: her alter ogos ego, sorry, as she's solving them. And yeah,

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Speaker 3: I don't I'm not really a fan of talking books

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Speaker 3: and animals, but somehow talking animals in books. But somehow

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Speaker 3: this really works together and you get this very well

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Speaker 3: constructed plot and all this strands come together and the

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Speaker 3: observations make a really enjoyable story. And it's termed what's

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Speaker 3: called in the books, termed what is called now cozy crime,

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Speaker 3: but it has that engaging plot and Conrad really is

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Speaker 3: the star of the book, and it's funny and entertaining

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Speaker 3: with crime thrown in there for good mix.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, cool. So that's The Cat who Cracked a

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Speaker 2: Cold Cake by Lt Shearer. At the very least, it's

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Speaker 2: the title. It's fun to say, isn't it. Next up,

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Speaker 2: tell Us about Diddley Squat Home to Roast by Jeremy Clarkson.

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Speaker 3: So this is a collection of Jeremy Clarkson's columns from

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Speaker 3: the UK Sunday Times. But actually most New Zealanders would

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Speaker 3: recognize the stories from his Amazon Prime TV series. And

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Speaker 3: he focuses a little bit on this, on the whole

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Speaker 3: suffocation of the rural kind of spirit and planning departments

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Speaker 3: and national park authorities and environmentalists. But beneath all the

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Speaker 3: kind of funny moments and the banter, you have his voice,

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Speaker 3: and it's clear that he cares deeply about the country side.

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Speaker 3: And you know, he does point out that if he

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Speaker 3: wasn't backed by Amazon's millions, he would, like many farmers

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Speaker 3: in the UK and around the world, be close to

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Speaker 3: the end of his wits, really, you know, waifer thin

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Speaker 3: profit margins and endless regulation. And he also talks quite

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Speaker 3: a bit actually about the mental health problem and farming

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Speaker 3: and actually he doesn't really talk about this in the book,

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Speaker 3: but he's done very good work and highlighting it. But

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Speaker 3: actually he also funds a charitable helpline for farmers in

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Speaker 3: need of support, so he kind of puts his money

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Speaker 3: where his mouth is. But the book's funny. You know.

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Speaker 3: He talks about his right hand man Caleb Cooper, who's

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Speaker 3: the farm manager, and his girlfriend Lisa, and he has

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Speaker 3: his accountant Charlie, and Gerald, his termed head of security

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Speaker 3: with his very thick accent, and you know, you get

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Speaker 3: the uncoperative weather in the realities of the agricultural economy,

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Speaker 3: and the local planning department, which of course has been

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Speaker 3: the bane of his life through many seasons, and the

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Speaker 3: farm shop which is doing a completely rawing trade and

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Speaker 3: people queue for hours to buy all sorts of things.

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Speaker 3: But back on the farm, it's this kind of season

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Speaker 3: of disaster almost and you know this year they focus

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Speaker 3: on chickens and mushrooms and oats, and of course not

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Speaker 3: everything goes to plan or even close to a plan.

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Speaker 3: But yeah, as I said, what's very evident is how

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Speaker 3: much he and his partner Lisa care very much about

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Speaker 3: the farm and its success, but also the success of

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Speaker 3: the people around him and the farmers around them, and

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Speaker 3: they always want very much engage with the people who

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Speaker 3: are close to them and help support them as well.

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Speaker 3: And yeah, great stories and very funny and told with

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Speaker 3: that wit and humor that Jeremy Clarkson is well known for.

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Speaker 2: So how funny is it.

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Speaker 3: He talks, because he talks very well with the banter

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Speaker 3: that he's so good at. So he's funny, but informative

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Speaker 3: is probably the best way of you know, he doesn't

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Speaker 3: get really dry and into the detail, but he kind

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Speaker 3: of has a message and gets his point across about

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Speaker 3: red tape and planning and how difficult that makes it.

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Speaker 3: But told in his kind of.

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Speaker 2: Style, typical Clark's and esque style.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, he kind of almost makes it lighthearted, but

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Speaker 3: there's a very serious message and along with what he is.

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Speaker 2: Yeah as well, yea.

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Speaker 3: The show, as the show puts across, you're a fan

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Speaker 3: of the show, he does it very well in that

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Speaker 3: as well.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's yeah, very good. Nice. Okay, that's Diddley Squatt

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Speaker 2: Home to Roost by Jeremy clarks and then Catherine's first book,

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Speaker 2: The Ones, but different is The Cat Who Cracked Cold

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Speaker 2: Case by Lt Shearer. Both of those, of course, and

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Speaker 2: all of the details up on the News Talks website

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Speaker 1: For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, Listen live

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Speaker 1: to News Talks at B from nine am Saturday, or

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