The Lemon Fool

The Mrs is not into anything too scary or gory but really enjoys the ‘lighter’ murder mysteries such as Poirot, Death in Paradise and Midsomer Murders.

Recently we’ve started Vera (which is fab) and
McCarthy and Dodds, both of which she’s enjoyed too.

Are we missing any other good series? The schedules seem full of Nordic Noirs and UK thrillers that try to outdo each other in the gore stakes. Fine for me as I’m a huge horror fan but the Mrs? Not so much.

Thanks in advance,

HYD

Howyoudoin wrote:The Mrs is not into anything too scary or gory but really enjoys the ‘lighter’ murder mysteries such as Poirot, Death in Paradise and Midsomer Murders.

Recently we’ve started Vera (which is fab) and
McCarthy and Dodds, both of which she’s enjoyed too.

Are we missing any other good series? The schedules seem full of Nordic Noirs and UK thrillers that try to outdo each other in the gore stakes. Fine for me as I’m a huge horror fan but the Mrs? Not so much.

Thanks in advance,

HYD

Have you tried Shetland? EDIT:https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2396135/

I must confess that I've not; but the books, by Ann Cleeves, were good and very similar in tone to her Vera series.

- sd

Mallorca Files, Father Brown, when available on iPlayer should fit the bill.

"Agatha Raisin". Based on the books by M. C. Beaton. Public Relations executive retires to a cosy cottage in The Cotswolds, only to find the bodies piling up at a similar rate to Midsomer Murders. Sky made the pilot episode ("Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death") and the first series, passed on making a second series for which the rights were picked up by America's Acorn TV. They're making series 4 as I type this. Trailer below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nONNi4VTreU

"Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries". Australian, set in 1920s Melbourne. Regularly shown on Alibi channel. Trailer below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e59WJVUv1bo

"The Brokenwood Mysteries". New Zealand's equivalent of Midsomer Murders (small town, quirky lead detective, ridiculously high murder rate). Regularly shown on Drama channel. Seven series so far, 30 episodes (series 7 hasn't yet been shown in the UK). Trailer below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnIS2AJSUco

One more to add:

The Aurora Teagarden Mysteries. American TV movies based on the books by Charlaine Harris (better known for "True Blood"). A small town librarian and her friends run a "Real Life Murders Club" which regularly gets together to discuss famous crimes. Lawrenceton is one of those towns with a staggeringly high murder rate and Aurora (and her friends) can't resist investigating these cases, regularly getting in the way of the local police.

They are periodically shown on the Movies24 channel on the Sky box. Otherwise it's Amazon Prime or buy the DVDs. Trailer for the first movie is below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1JEC7zh6yA

I'd also recommend Brokenwood, Murdoch and Miss Fisher.

I enjoyed Shakespeare and Hathaway (available on iplayer).

Ann

The Sherlock Holmes TV series from ITV 1984 if you can find it on catch up! (41 episodes!)

Another one. "Queens of Mystery". A quirky British comedy-drama about a newly promoted detective whose three crime novelist aunts get involved in all of her cases. Filmed in rural Kent. the first series has three separate stories, each one told in two episodes. It has been renewed for a second series.

The show has a very distinctive style, notably with its all-knowing narrator who deals with the exposition. At times parts of the show (especially the architecture and how it's filmed) look like they belong in a fairy tale.

The show is distributed by the American streaming service Acorn TV (who make Agatha Raisin). I bought the DVDs

Trailer below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiQjB7xUDFg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queens_of_Mystery

The Doctor Blake Mysteries.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrlSc8gCDlyubHGmfjYP4HKpR9xoqEfAC

The Doctor Blake Mysteries is an Australian television series that premiered on ABC TV on February 2013. The series stars Craig McLachlan in the lead role of Doctor Lucien Blake, who returns home to Ballarat in the late 1950s to take over his late father's general medical practice after an absence of 30 years.