Unnatural Causes

Once again, like "A Mind to Murder", the writers chose to bypass PD James and make up their own version of the story. In the book, a famous mystery writer is found dead in the bottom of a dinghy on the Suffolk coast with both of his hands chopped off. Adam is on holiday there visiting his Aunt Jane and having to make a decision about his relationship with Deborah Riscoe. He gets involved simply as a spectator because his aunt is one of the suspects. He and the investigating officer , aptly called Inspector Reckless, don't like each other right off and even with the same clues, AD is able to figure out the murder method and the Inspector is not. His only reference to Deborah Riscoe in the book is a letter (and poem) he writes her but never mails and then he receives one from her. The movie version has totally done away with the Aunt, brought Deborah to the country and visiting Adam while he is on the case, getting attacked by the murder suspect and finally coming to her decision about the two of them with her boss. It has lost all the momentum of the novel but did retain the storm scene where Adam is almost killed/drowned..

Now, I am not suggesting you shouldn't watch this story, on the contrary, Roy Marsden is , as always, a class act as Dalgliesh. Just don't expect the same level of suspense as the book. Do the screenwriters ever read the book first or do they make up stuff as they go along?