The Crimson Rivers

This eight part French crime drama is made up of four separate cases, two episodes each. It is centred on Pierre Niémans and his deputy Camille Delaunay who work for a specialist unit that investigates the bizarrest of crimes. These include a huntsman who is killed according to the ancient traditions of the hunting family; a murder in a cult, deaths linked to a children's home and the murder of a monk who used to be a policeman. The fact that their cases can be anywhere in France, and in the first case partly over the border in Germany, means that apart from our two protagonists the stories will have different sets of characters.

I am aware that this series is based on a character that first appeared in a film of the same name but didn't feel it was a problem that I'd never seen the film. The first story does a solid job introducing us to our two leads. Olivier Marchal and Erika Sainte do fine jobs as Pierre and Camille making them interesting characters to watch. The cases are nicely varied and enjoyably strange. They provide a good number of suspects and motives to keep the viewer guessing. There is also a good sense of danger as each approaches its conclusion. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of crime dramas involving unusual cases.

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