Not being familiar with the novels I can't say if the TV program is true to them or not, but if it is then they can't have been very good.
The plots seem to rely heavily on coincidence and happenstance, as seen in the 'Murder She Wrote'-like way that the protagonist cannot move without bumping in to a crime. If there's a corpse to be found or a crime-in-progress to be stopped you can be sure that the program's hero will not be far away, and if there's a clue lying around he is bound to stumble upon it within seconds of looking (no matter the police having already searched the scene), not to mention an uncanny eyesight which allows him to spot something as small as a piece of jewellery from a roof top. The acting is fine, and it has the occasional nice visual, but the plots, thus far at least, are farcical. If the hero meets someone at random you can be sure that they will tie neatly into one plot or another in some obvious, and unlikely, way. Another problem, as I see it, is that instead of dealing with one case at a time the program also seems determined to cram several crimes into each story, (probably as a result of the weakness of each individual plot-strand), making it still less realistic. It also falls uncomfortably between cosy Sunday night drama and something far darker, depicting an unnecessary level of violence for it's otherwise fairly twee subject matter. I have no problems whatsoever with explicit sex and violence being shown, if appropriate, but they just don't seem to fit with the general 'Agatha Christie' type atmosphere of this show where everyone who gets so much as a line seems to be integral to the story.
I wanted to like this. Having grown up with the likes of Cracker and Prime Susopect there is currently a cop-show sized hole in my viewing schedule but this, it appears, is not going to fill it. Having watched just three episodes I've already given up on it. If you like a good cop drama that keeps you guessing then find something else to watch. Very poor.
The plots seem to rely heavily on coincidence and happenstance, as seen in the 'Murder She Wrote'-like way that the protagonist cannot move without bumping in to a crime. If there's a corpse to be found or a crime-in-progress to be stopped you can be sure that the program's hero will not be far away, and if there's a clue lying around he is bound to stumble upon it within seconds of looking (no matter the police having already searched the scene), not to mention an uncanny eyesight which allows him to spot something as small as a piece of jewellery from a roof top. The acting is fine, and it has the occasional nice visual, but the plots, thus far at least, are farcical. If the hero meets someone at random you can be sure that they will tie neatly into one plot or another in some obvious, and unlikely, way. Another problem, as I see it, is that instead of dealing with one case at a time the program also seems determined to cram several crimes into each story, (probably as a result of the weakness of each individual plot-strand), making it still less realistic. It also falls uncomfortably between cosy Sunday night drama and something far darker, depicting an unnecessary level of violence for it's otherwise fairly twee subject matter. I have no problems whatsoever with explicit sex and violence being shown, if appropriate, but they just don't seem to fit with the general 'Agatha Christie' type atmosphere of this show where everyone who gets so much as a line seems to be integral to the story.
I wanted to like this. Having grown up with the likes of Cracker and Prime Susopect there is currently a cop-show sized hole in my viewing schedule but this, it appears, is not going to fill it. Having watched just three episodes I've already given up on it. If you like a good cop drama that keeps you guessing then find something else to watch. Very poor.