The Brokenwood Mysteries: My Rating 5-

Midsomer Murders in New Zealand

Came upon The Brokenwood Mysteries on PBS a few years ago (the first two seasons can still be found on PBS Passport). The series now in its 10^th season (2014-24) on Acorn TV, looks like 11 may be coming up. Like most things I’ve watched from down under, it’s a bit quirky but also genial.

The series begins with Detective Mike Shepherd going from the “big city” (Auckland) to the small rural town of Brokenwood to investigate another police officer. After the case, he decides to stay, even though it means a demotion to Senior Sergeant, and buys a vineyard (to be worked by his Māori neighbor). Two local police officers – a sometimes brusque Detective Kristin Sims and a red-haired Constable, replaced in later seasons by a Māori – and a Russian medical examiner complete his team. Brokenwood, set in the rural areas of North Island, New Zealand, suffers the unusually high murder rate found in the English countryside of Midsomer Murders.

Like Midsomer, The Brokenwood Mysteries is not especially bloody or violent (although as with the former, some crimes get quite imaginative). Unlike Midsomer, however, there is usually only one murder per show. Despite the usual procedural elements, The Brokenwood Mysteries is unique in other ways beyond its antipodal location. The cast and plots reflect New Zealand’s mixed population and culture of Europeans and Māori. Also, as befits a small town, in addition to the three detectives are a number of locals who pop up here and there on a regular basis including a senior citizen gossip, a steely eyed barkeep, a pesky lawyer and a guy nicknamed Frodo. Finally, there is Dr. Gina Kadinsky (the Russian), who really likes her work and has a completely unrequited thing for Mike Shepherd.

Policing in Brokenwood is fairly gentle. No one is pressed, time is taken (episodes run 90 minutes), and Shepherd – always the calm center – takes time to pay respects to the corpse before starting the investigation. While the North Island areas where most of the series takes place is not the New Zealand of the Hobbit movies, the maritime, temperate climate means a lush, semi-tropical and quite attractive place that makes me dream of moving there.

Brokenwood is an easy show to watch and an easy minus 5

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