This next Lazy Sunday Murder Mystery is familiar territory but falls into the Scandi-Noir genre and ia highly addictive watching. Back in
2014, my aunt and uncle introduced to me Swedish TV series about a female
amateur detective.
Set in the 1950s Sweden, Puck Ekstedt, doesn’t
conform. She gives talks about literature and is fascinated by murders. She
wants a PHD and she doesn’t know if she wants children. There are only a
precious 6 episodes in the Crimes of Passion series, based on the novels by
Maria Lang and unfortunately, it doesn’t look like they’ll be anymore. I became
a little too obsessed with the series, re-watching them all on a loop on my
ipad during my lunch breaks at work, but they were just so very good, plus the
opening titles are brilliant.
I ended up watching the last three
episodes first, as these were the ones that were taped by my family and I was
so eager to watch more; I downloaded the rest of the series and devoured them.
The terrible comparison that was mentioned was that the series was like ‘Mad
Men meets The Killing’. This is completely wrong. The stories are set in the
50s and there are murders that take place. Nothing like either show. Just to be
clear.
Apart from Puck, the main characters
are Einar Bure, called Eje, who is dating Puck at the start of the series, and
Christer Wijk, a police superintendent, womaniser and Eje’s best friend.
Together, the three of them solve murders.
The first episode, Death of a Loved
One, is set on a remote island that can only be reached by boat the perfect
place for a murder. Her colleague, Rutgar, invites Puck to a small party to
celebrate Midsummer on the small island. She is persuaded to go after she hears
that Eje, an old friend of Rutgar’s is going; he and Puck have started dating.
But during the festivities, two old friends of the party show up uninvited.
Things take a turn, as truths people wanted hidden start to creep out. The next
day Puck discovers the body of one of the guests. She tells Eje and he contacts
his friend, Chrsiter Wijk who is a detective in Stockholm. But once he arrives
on the island, the body is missing.
The setting for this story is
beautiful, a forest wonderland surrounded by sea, with a beach and perfect
house situated in the middle. All the characters and suspects all seem to have
motives and various secrets they wish to hide. Past heartaches and lies come to
the surface, while Puck, the outsider takes note of everyone’s behaviour and
remembers every detail. Catching the eye and admiration of Christer but all she
and Eje seem to want is a few minutes alone together.
There is even a nod to Agatha Christie’s
And Then There Were None when someone comments that they’re getting picked off
one by one. The death count for this story was actually quite low but nearly
everyone comes out of this with wounds. An excellent start to the series.