rosalindteam I saw my first episode a couple of months ago. I loved it ... until the last ten minutes. The end was plain disappointing. You were left with a strange feeling of hopelessness, rather than anything being (properly) ended.Then last night we happened to come across another episode as we were flicking channels, looking for something to watch. It looked promising, I thought. (I had forgotten about my previous experience with this series.) It was going so well. The acting was great. The plot was beautifully crafted, I thought. I would have given it a 9 out of 10 - but for the ending. (Here's the spoiler, sorry.) One of the main characters died. I can understand that happening in a series when it is the last episode of the season & the producers need to write out a character who'll be unavailable for the next season - but that wasn't the case in this episode. It was more as if, the viewers *have to* be given something miserable and pointless - yet again.I don't know who the writer is, but I can only guess that when he/she went to film-writing school, the class on How to Write a Good Ending was at 8 am or similar - that is, far too early, so this writer slept in and missed that class every time.It has great acting & a good beginning and middle - but that cannot make up for miserable endings which leave a nasty taste in one's mouth.I give it only 2 out of 10.

blanche-2 I love Inspector Lynley (Nathaniel Parker). In this, the beginning of season 4, Lynley is trying to get Helen to talk to him. Long distance, of course. I can't figure out why those two got married. Maybe the actress who replaced Lesley Vickerage when she left the show due to pregnancy won't grate on me so much.In this episode, Havers has recovered from being shot at the end of season 3, and joins Lynley in investigating the shooting of a beautiful woman in a village. She turns out to have cheated on her husband with more than one man, so naturally they're suspects, along with the husband. However, a tragedy which occurred many years ago ties into the current murder, and it's up to Lynley and Havers to figure it out.This is a good mystery, with Lynley and Havers in fine form, with Lynley attempting to advise Havers on a windfall of money she is receiving due to her injury. He doesn't recommend a cruise.Entertaining.

chocolategenius I have really enjoyed this series. I have not read any of the books so I cannot comment on how true it is to them and really do not care. As a stand alone series I love all of the characters and I especially think Nathaniel Parker is a beautiful man and he and Sharon Small have an excellent chemistry. It is a dark show and the characters are neither perfect nor brilliant and they solve crime the old fashioned way. In other words, it is very non-Hollywood. I don't know how indicative they are of how crimes are investigated in Britain but I assure you CSI isn't even remotely close to how things are done in the US. I also like that the characters are not in their 20's and are mature, seasoned people. This is the only series that I have actually purchased. I cannot praise this show enough. I did not give it 10 stars simply because I know it isn't perfect.

mrwiseman-1 The BBC Series is based on novels by Elizabeth George and original scripts. The stories are about two seemingly mismatched London detectives. He is the polished DI Thomas Lynley the eight Earl of Asherton, and his parter is Barbara Havers a sloppy, working class DS. His colleagues think he is a rich, spoiled, golden boy who is a detective as a hobby. She is thought to be difficult and unmanageable. Both have troubled home lives and both are overly dedicated to their jobs. They bicker and they fight, but all while a real respect grows.I really great series that has yet to get the respect it deserves from the BBC. It is fun to watch this partnership that was thrust upon them by their bosses (with the hopes of getting rid of both of them),click right from the beginning. If you watch it from the pilot "A Great Deliverance" to through to the most recent series, you can see the partners' relationship really develop nicely. In many ways they are more alike them different. Both use the job to avoid the problems in their personal lives. Some even argue that the actor have brought romantic chemistry to the TV show that is not in the books.Really worth seeing.