I was so excited to hear that this show was based on novel by Ann Cleeve, the author of Vera and Shetland, two of my top10 British detective stories! The second a Vera episode is released, I watch it and about a week later I watched it again. So i was looking forward to this show.
Two main components of a good detective story is that, first, the protagonist is quirky, or tormented, or an alcoholic, crazy, goofy, and/or fish a out of water and second, they are extremely passionate about being a detective, by finding the killer, and justice for the victims. Everything else in their lives is secondary. (Ex Grantchester, Vera, Murder in paradise, Sherlock Holmes, Shetland, etc.).
You won't find either of these components at work here. Half of the 20th century protagonist are gay so that's not "quirky" anymore. And although this actor is eye candy, he looks super bored with his work. In one scene, he looks at the murder board and scratches his chin and ........that's it. That would never fly in a Vera episode. My favorite Vera scenes are when she looks at the murder board, turns around and yells at everybody to get to work and find the answer.
The cult angle was interesting, but many mystery murders find that the murder is related to their past and this makes them even more crazy about finding the answer, but once again I just didn't feel passion with this actor.....and if the protagonist is not passionate about what he does, how can u expect us, the viewer, to be.
If u have nothing is to watch, catch this, the scenery is OK. It seemed like everyone lived in a house with huge windows overlooking the sea??...but you would be better served watching another Vera episode.
