All the ingredients are here for a tasty murder mystery series but it doesn't quite gel enough to rank it in the upper tier. Unlike other reviewers I thought the mysteries were good and the stories move along at a good clip. The two main characters are appealing (or would be in another vehicle.) The French landscape is lush and evocative. However, somehow there is simply no charm or cleverness. The relationship between the main characters is flat. The dialogue throughout is deadpan and emotionless. To pull this off, there needs to be some sense of personality and relationship between the regular cast of characters - something that's engaging on top of the storyline - but there is none and no effort at development. It's all quite wooden. And the viewer is always aware of the complete oddity of quintessentially British actors playing French characters, complete with British accents and turns of phrase. Pity, as with better screenwriting and direction this could have been a welcome and novel entry to the British murder mystery canon.
Review of Murder in Provence
