Die Toten von Marnow

As this German series, set in the city of Schwerin in the former East Germany, opens a man enters an apartment and discovers a body on the sofa... the body of somebody he intended to murder! He searches the apartment looking for a list of unspecified information. When the body is discovered by the police it is hanging in the bathroom with a message suggesting he was a paedophile carved into him. The case is investigated by Detectives Frank Elling and Lona Mendt. The soon have a second case when a man is found with his throat cut. The evidence suggests the same killer but there is no obvious connection between the victims beyond the fact that the first regularly stayed at a holiday site on the lake near where the second lived. The investigation will expose secrets dating back to the days of the communist DDR and place those investigating in danger; various personal issues don't help matters for them.

I really enjoyed this series. The central mystery was intriguing and had some good twists and turns before the truth is revealed. The opening scene immediately grabs the viewers' attention and get them hooked as we wonder just why two different people wanted this man dead. The main characters are interesting; normal police officers with various imperfections and problems. The actors all do a solid job. The setting adds to one's enjoyment; forests, lakes and some impressive old buildings... not everything east of the old Iron Curtain is grey concrete as those us who grew up before it fell imaged at the time. Overall I'd definitely recommend this to fans of Euro-drama.

These comments are based on watching the series in German with English subtitles.

Wow, these series from Germany really rocked. Nice locations with an intriguing serial murder story hold me electrified.

The actors did a very good job, so all the staff and the director. The eight episodes are well packed with mystery, suspense and action. The running time is perfect and I wanted never stop watching.

I mean it offers high value of entertainment with fast paced scenes and I was never bored.

I hope there will be other episodes with this crew in future. Would be really interesting if there are other mysterious cases to solve. As I mentioned The main actors delivered a top performance and I liked them very much.

Check it out. 7/10.

This drama was incredibly good. I was a little confused about what was happening in the first episode, but from then on the pace picked up and the plot went like a rocket to superlative. Huge surprises along the way. Charismatic main characters, superb acting. The interactions between Lona and Elling, and between Elling and Susanne, were totally believable. I was engrossed in the story and was swept along through to the end.

Sorry they don't seem to be doing another in this series - everything about it, right down to the hot summer days in some of Germany's most beautiful scenery, was perfect.

Thanks for this wonderful series.

The story was captivating from beginning to end.

German crime series are very different from US productions. Characters are more real, the story line is less contrived than US shows (yet still not wholly realistic) - but this is escapist TV.

The acting is good, the scenery beautiful, the cinematography excellent.

Overall, a highly recommend several hours of excellent entertainment.

The show should have you hooked after the first episode, otherwise it is not for you.

Note: I watched the original German so I cannot comment about dubbing nor translations/subtitles which I sadly have seen to often be terrible.

Well obviously since this is a show - so no pun intended. I do not want to write this too often, but for a German show this is not half bad (it actually is quite decent to say the least). The actors are well chosen - and the story is good. Now does it sometimes feel that it could have been a bit shorter? Sure, but I never felt bored ... so I would not hold that against it.

Our main characters have been well cast - and they have flaws. They do things that normal cops should not do ... but where would we be and what tension would we have, if everyone would be just perfect? Exactly. So take this with a grain of salt .. and if you have the time give it a go ... especially if you are a fan of the genre.