Dublin Murders

There are a lot of different elements to Dublin Murders, from the mystical to issues of identity.

Identity is explored within (crazy) families, between twins and their siblings, and with regard to survivors as a result of traumatic experience. Cassie and Rob share troubled childhoods and a lifelong search for acceptance that spearheads the theme. With these people never escape grief, and the detectives find in each other kindred souls and understanding they've craved but never found with anyone else. All in all worth it seeing.

Irish folklore: check Whodunnit: check Complex characters: check Twisty romance: check Cop banter: check Awesome accents: double check

This was really good, watch it - don't listen to the negative reviews.

This show has been very up and down by pretty much every metric. The pace seems to speed up and slow down, with long stretches of very little happening but then new developments frantically thrown into the mix. I understand the producers crammed two books into one series which accounts for the weird pacing, and two investigations happening (which gets confusing and they bog each other down). The script also had some well-written funny moments, but then the very next scene will feature horrible dialogue. Hard to blame the actors, who do a good job in the main, but a lot of their emotions seem turned up to 11 all the time, which is exhausting and not hugely realistic. The characters' behaviour is downright bizarre at times. Coppers lose their rag constantly and seem to have no idea how to run an investigation that is remotely effective or follows any kind of professional standards. The plotting is also all over the place and requires some pretty major suspension of disbelief over daft left turns and enormous coincidences. All that said, I find myself needing to watch the final episode to see if they can wrap it all up in a way that isn't either a total cop-out or just a daft resolution that comes out of left field.

A good start but it became apparent that this was really two unconnected plots shoehorned together. I note from the credits it was based on two books and this seemed to come through quite clearly in the TV adaptation. In the end the show dabbled with some supernatural elements but never had the courage to develop them or the writing to develop plot points that otherwise stretched all credulity. The suspension of disbelief was overcome by a sense of annoyance & the ending was an unsatisfactory cop out with both plot lines left with significant gaps. It was atmospheric & technically well put together but ultimately the writing wasn't strong enough. There were also far too many flashbacks which became intrusive & seemed like unnecessary padding.

I really do not understand the negative reviews here. I may be a little biased as I am a Tana French fan and find her books some of the best crime novels around at the moment. However, I am not a Sarah Phelps fan after the mess she made of the Javier Falcon novels when she adapted those for TV. In this case, though, she seems to be on to something. The books are slow burners with a psychological tinge that eats into the dialogue and sets up the characters and their relationships. The relationship between Rob and Cassie is rendered pretty well. They have also included a couple of things that are not in the book that seem to work well. Frank stalking Cassie is a logical way to link to the next instalment and a great way to introduce a wonderful character. Well, two episodes in and it all looks good to me. For those that are looking for a standard police thriller kind of thing, don't bother. It was not written that way and the TV show looks pretty close to the book, so far. For those that like twisted, heart-wrenching, psychological drama, stay with it. I can already see that this is going to stay pretty close to what the author intended.