De 12 van Oldenheim

If you are not judging by some impossible standard, you will enjoy this village mystery, currently available on Acorn in the U.S. It's good to see a Dutch production of a story like this in which the characters mostly talk and act like actual Dutch people and not to some generic standard for the international market.

Yes, not many of the characters are "likable", but who the heck determined that characters in a crime or mystery story should be likable? And some of the plot twists are far-fetched, but again that's an artifact of the genre. The ending may be a bit too much like another famous story, but I'll admit I didn't see it coming.

The follow-on "Schouwendam 12" is just as good, or maybe better.

The production values are very good: cinematography, editing, audio - acting and writing are decent most of the time, aside from one character whose temper is repeatedly violent - it's hard to believe he wouldn't face consequences for that early on. I loved seeing the Dutch scenery and buildings. It's fairly involving, up to a point. I had high hopes for it.

The ending, however, is incredibly unsatisfying. Implausible and forced, it made the whole series become a waste of time. Even the ending itself is a waste of time, laboriously going back through every disappearance even though once the explanation is supplied it is totally unnecessary to do that. I certainly hope more Dutch series will make it to video streaming services available in the US, but please don't waste viewers' time again with such an abortion of a conclusion!

I thought this was brilliantly done - a weird, suspenseful journey filled with twists and turns that had me baffled right through to the very end. I'm frankly shocked by the negative reviews posted here. Of course, even Beethoven had his critics: after a performance of his Symphony No. 7, he was described as being "ripe for the madhouse" and that he "must have been drunk when he wrote it." What were those critics thinking? And what were these reviewers thinking? Forget the naysayers - this is an excellent, brain-stimulating series. Bravo!

This 12-episode series was a pleasant surprise for my wife and me. Good acting and a well-constructed plot hold your attention throughout the series. There is some believable detective work throughout although progress is slow early on. The conclusion is believable. I don't know what all the negative reviews are about. We are giving it a fairly high rating and would definitely recommend it.

Murder lurks under the surface of a small Dutch town. The plot is like a classic suspense movie's and brings to my mind Ten Little Indians, The Mousetrap and Murder on The Orient Express. If you pay close attention you might suspect someone--and things are a little too neatly explained in the final episode, but there are lots of quirky personalities and possible murderers in this village with idyllic scenery where everyone knows everyone else's business. Main players do a good job of acting. Very enjoyable!