(Mostly) British Detective Mysteries
Reviews and ratings of detective mysteries, TV and some books
I am fond of British detective mysteries. They tend to be more complex and less bloody than the American cop versions, which are generally kind of the opposite. I started with Sherlock Holmes. The oldest of five children living in a small apartment across the Hudson River from Manhattan, I would escape to a nearby stoop to read Conan Doyle. (Many of his books may be downloaded for free from Project Gutenberg.) Since those distant days, along with sci-fi, I’ve read and/or watched from Agatha Christie through P.D. James to Anthony Horowitz. While usually staying away from lawyers (although I was, in the day, an avid fan of Perry Mason), my wife and I enjoyed the Rumpole of the Bailey series.
In this blog, I will exercise what is perhaps my last remaining “expertise” by providing commentary on what I enjoy – and more rarely, what I did not – as well as why. In general, I prefer mysteries that are not in themselves especially violent. There is enough of that all around us. Murders are investigated but the blood and gruesomeness are generally inferred rather than shown and the detectives rarely carry or use weapons. They use their experience and observation skills to follow clues, often focusing on the physiology and life histories of the victims and suspects. P.D. James is the archetype of this approach. While the majority of the detectives are male, some of the best such as Miss Marple, Jane Tennison and Vera are very clever and determined women.
I mostly watch mysteries on TV – many originally on PBS Mystery, now Masterpiece Mystery – but occasionally the books they are based on. I’ve sometimes gotten carried away by the locale where the books or TV series are set. We actually vacationed in Guadeloupe, in part, so I could visit the fictional police station of Death in Paradise. I regularly envision traveling to the UK to find those perfect English villages and bucolic landscapes that probably don’t exist anymore. I even fantasized about taking a bike tour through the Shetland Islands!
So, off we go, if you will follow me. We started with what I believe is the longest running of all British detectives, Midsomer Murders. New ones every ten days and sometimes notes in between on what I’m watching or reading now.
My rating system: 1 to 5 with 5 being the absolute best and 3 being good entertainment.