Dublin Murders

If I hadn't recently read both books I think this would have been even more confusing. This series takes liberal adaptations in order to shoehorn both stories concurrently into one series. There is a nice symmetry between the storylines, of abandoned children and the aftermath. And loss.

I'm a big fan of Tana French, especially "The Likeness" so I'll focus on that story line; I enjoyed seeing how others envision the characters, and above all, that manor house of Whitethorn. The novel lets you worm your way into Lexie's head and it's seductive. However, film gives us those atmospheric images of Ireland: lush green, dark and sinister woods, and that manor house. The dialog, the Irish slang and accents are terrifiic; fast, sharp, and wickedly smart.

Read the books, especially "The Likeness."

It's a very complex, multi layered mystery, there are lots of strands, and lots of jumping back in forth in time, so don't think you can watch this and fiddle with your phone, you have to concentrate as you could easily lose it.

It isn't going to be for everyone, because it is dark, it's bleak, and does contain some very tough to watch scenes. It has been criticised for being ambiguous, but I would argue that all loose ends are tied up, the last scene provides a lot of answers.

The only real dip comes in Part 6, the only episode I didn't like, the best, the following episode, as so often, it's the penultimate episode that I enjoyed most of all.

Terrific acting, Sarah Greene and Killian Scott are both incredible, they are well supported by a great cast.

I'm someone that always loves a continuation of a series, but in this instance I'd be disappointed if they brought it back, this needs to be left alone. Gripping, 8/10

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.

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.