A great book with an adaptation that lacks a bit of suspense - What the audience is offered is nothing that you haven't seen in other British crime series in one form or another: from the investigator who is tormented by private demons, to the village one Setting with dense forests and aging pubs where everyone knows everyone else, all these elements have long been seen in much more interesting implementations. The acting isn't particularly good either. What is reproduced in the original book through interesting and professional monologues by a forensic scientist only works like annoying talk in the series.
The biggest weakness of the series, however, is that the pacing is simply not right here. The first episode babbles along lamely, in the second the events roll over - cliffhangers included - before everything is dealt with very quickly in the third and Hunter is sent to his next investigations just as briskly as he is unmotivated. Real tension, for which the name Simon Beckett actually stands for fans, never wants to arise there. Maybe a movie would have been better than a series. All in all an average crime thriller that could have been much better with the excellent book template.
The biggest weakness of the series, however, is that the pacing is simply not right here. The first episode babbles along lamely, in the second the events roll over - cliffhangers included - before everything is dealt with very quickly in the third and Hunter is sent to his next investigations just as briskly as he is unmotivated. Real tension, for which the name Simon Beckett actually stands for fans, never wants to arise there. Maybe a movie would have been better than a series. All in all an average crime thriller that could have been much better with the excellent book template.