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psyhisn
Reviews
Murder Is Easy (2023)
Yikes...
I'll start off with the positive side to my opinion:
I loved Penelope Wilton as Miss Pinkerton!
Anyway...
Two hours of my life really felt wasted - I can't stress this enough. I'm a huge fan of the classic murder mysteries by Agatha Christie, but when I finally got to the 'Murder is Easy' 's ending credits, I found myself begging for her ghostly forgiveness and I didn't even make the show!
A huge issue I had was the lack of emotion with any of the characters. I didn't sense any fear in anyone despite there being a literal serial killer on the loose in a tiny village or when some of the characters were even faced with possible death, there wasn't any emotion AT ALL. It felt like the show was more focused on the boring romance between Fitzwilliam and Conway than the actual murders, which was an extremely unnecessary subplot by the way.
The acting felt very dull at times and I found myself disappointed with many of the performances, which is surprising since the cast looked extremely promising. This could be down to a lacking script and poor directing but it's a weak excuse to make.
Another issue I've noticed with a lot of modern period dramas lately (as a fan of history in general) is that there is A LOT of inaccurate displays of diversity in certain time periods and their settings. So many shows/movies have fallen prey to this, so I don't hold much against any of them at this point. Little English villages did not (or barely did) contain diverse families back in the 50s. I've already written about this in many other modern period drama/movie reviews so I won't go into much further detail, but it's just getting boring at this point.
I can't say too much more about this show without bursting into flames from irritation but overall, I really recommend not wasting your time on this programme and for BBC to stop butchering the cherished work of Britain's best writers.
Magpie Murders (2022)
A type of series for background enjoyment
I absolutely adore Horowitz's adaptations of Poirot, Foyle's War, etc. So when I spotted the new show 'Magpie Murders', that was based on his book, I was obviously very intrigued and gave it a watch.
I really enjoyed the switch between author Conway's storyline, the real world (I honestly wished there was more of Atticus Pünd!) and how both plots intertwined with the murder and helped uncover the murderer.
Also, the premise of the story really caught my eye - I had yet to see a murder plot that used the missing ending of a manuscript as the main piece/drive to catch the murderer. Very original and a creative way to write a murder mystery!
My biggest issue with Magpie Murders was unfortunately Lesley Manville's (who is an incredible actress nonetheless) character. The stereotypical leading woman in novels who can't be tamed, is obnoxiously flamboyant and borderline self-destructive has been so overdone to the point where it's just boring. I found her character extremely irritating the entire time and it caused me to find the programme altogether very difficult to watch, which was upsetting since it had a good plot.
The ending was unfortunately... a little lacklustre and quite predictable. The culprit was quite obvious from the get-go and though I had figured it out early on, I was hoping there would be a sudden twist in the tale and that the killer would be a completely different person - which was obviously not the case.
Overall, I'd say this is a type of series I'd play in the background instead of using my entire attention on it. Even though it's a harsh statement, this series wasn't exactly my cup of tea and reminds me of why I tend to stay away from the modern mysteries and keep to the classics.
The Marlow Murder Club (2024)
Pleasantly surprised
I haven't read the original books but decided to watch the show anyway, especially when I saw Samantha Bond as the main lead - I find her to be a wonderful actress.
At first I struggled a bit to find interest in the plot line as it was quite stagnant and there were constant dead ends that began to put me off of watching it altogether. Majority of the acting was well done though which turned me away from turning off the show! It was all very natural and most of the actors did a wonderful job bringing their characters to life. There were however certain parts where I slightly disliked both the dialogue and mannerisms of a couple of the actors but in the end, it didn't bother me too much.
By the second part of the story I became a lot more interested by the sudden plot twists and the pace that the story was now going. It definitely picked up near the end of the show, as the plot was finally coming together which made the ending very satisfying.
I don't watch modern murder mysteries often (between 2020 and present time) as I find that they can sometimes be very lost in translation from the original books that they're originally based on, so I didn't have high expectations but was pleasantly surprised with The Marlow Murder Club! It's a very good show for both casual murder mystery watchers (like myself) and crime fanatics that like a gripping, intricate storyline.