It's Criminal

Spoiler warning – there will be some spoilers here, so read on with caution if you have not seen all the episodes. I appear to be in the minority among Midsomer Murder fans because I like Sergeant Dan Scott. I will admit that it took a little while to warm up to him as he was very different to Troy. We also see Barnaby warm towards Scott in this episode.  My favourite episode of series seven is Ghosts of Christmas Past. There are three main reasons for this: 1. John Hopkins gets to flesh Dan Scott out more here. We see that he's not as two-dimensional as he initially seemed. 2. Bruce Alexander (known primarily for playing Superintendent Norman Mullet in A Touch of Frost) is as impressive as Dominic Jones. His subtle, genial and yet unnerving in places performance stands out in an episode where most of the characters are flat and annoying. 3. The other performer who stands out from the crown is Rory Corpus, who played Howard Frears. Howard is used to bearing the brunt of the blame w...

Inspector Rebus, like so many other fictional detectives has traits that would, in the real world, have derailed his career and probably killed him.   However, like those other detectives, these traits form part of why the characters are so popular. Readers can relate to characters who have problems, they feel more like one of them. Not a single one of us is perfect.  I'll list a few here for you.  Rebus is an alcoholic. Sherlock Holmes uses cocaine.  Morse is a snob. Frost has authority issues.  Nero Wolfe has an ego the size of a planet.  Even Tom Barnaby, the most "normal" detective of them all, has a hang up or two.  However, the trick for the writer is to explore these flaws but not to make them too central or they risk getting in the way of the plot. Also, the author shouldn't rely on them too much to carry the character all of the time. A reader will soon get bored if there's no character development.  There's another potential trap fo...

Spoiler warning – there will be some spoilers here, so read on with caution if you have not seen all the episodes.  Death and Dreams is an excellent example of why I like Midsomer Murders. Just when you think you've got the measure of the series, out it pops with another surprise. The surprise is not who the killers are or their age; it is the glee and total lack of remorse that they have. The motive for the killings is not the usual fare either. It also turns out they've been killing for longer than Barnaby and Troy realise.  John Nettles and Isla Blair (playing the head psychiatrist) have good chemistry, making the two characters' fondness for each other more realistic.  Serious kudos go to the young performers playing the serial killers. The role is not easy for older, more established performers to take on without "hamming it up", yet these three get the balance spot on. Even at the end, when Hannah is revelling in telling Barnaby and Troy all about what they...

The Inspector Morse book series was another novel series that I was introduced to through a TV series (this also happened with Nero Wolfe and Midsomer Murders). All of Colin's novels were made for the small screen. The first of these was The Dead of Jericho in 1987. The last was (not surprisingly)The Remorseful Day in 2000.  I was excited at the prospect of reading the novels as I'd enjoyed the series, and John Thaw's performance as the titular Morse sealed the deal for me. He was ably accompanied by Kevin Whately as Sargent Lewis. I knew there would be differences between text and screen, as there almost always are but I was not daunted.  I was delighted when I was able to purchase the entire collection of books and made my through them. As expected, some parts were changed or removed from the TV series. However, in most cases, I didn't feel that they had been detrimental to the stories or characters. A few of the books stood out more than the others for me. These were...

  The League of Frightened Men is the second of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe books and the first that had a character in it that creeped me out.  The consequences of a youthful prank may be the motive behind the deaths of two men and the disappearance of a third. Wolfe and Archie need to discover just how far the wronged party would go to get revenge.  All the characters in this novel are well constructed, even if they are not a major character. This is one of the things I like about Rex Stout, he didn't skimp on his characters.  The plot is a little stretched but it does not ruin the plot as it avoids becoming tedious.  This book also sees Nero Wolfe become the man of action, a rarity in itself but wonderfully done. Wolfe may not be as physically capable as he was in his youth, but his superb brain more than makes up for it. 

From series 1-13, Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby had three sidekicks. 1. Detective Sergeant Gavin Troy The original (and, in my opinion, the best) sidekick who sticks around for 6 series until he's promoted to DCI (and Daniel Casey who played him, wanted to move onto pastures new).  His character was softened from the original novels though some of the isms and jumping to conclusions without much to go on is still there. If they hadn't given him a more three dimensional character, it wouldn't have worked as well.  He's brighter than the Troy of the books but is still green in the first few episodes. Thankfully, he finds his stride and it is great watching him grow. He was the first sidekick to make a brief reappearance (more on who the other one is when I write about John Barnaby's sidekicks). 2. Detective Sergeant Daniel (Dan) Scott Not a popular one among the fans, Scott is very different to Troy. He's cocky, set in his ways (initially) and sees being p...