There are mystery series for all tastes. In this universe populated by platforms, there are crimes everywhere. Sometimes a simple police officer treated with pulse and solvency (Line of Dutyfor example) achieves high levels of quality and popularity without inventing anything. In Scholar We don’t invent things either, we just innovate, and not much. It wasn’t necessary: the series has an excellent criminal record to build a fun product with certain discoveries. The creator and protagonist is Mark Gatiss, co-creator and actor (a wonderful Mycroft Holmes) in sherlock from the BBC.
The season consists of three criminal cases divided into batches of two chapters for a total of six already available on Filmin. For this review we saw the first two mysteries, that is, four chapters.
First of all, you need to accept the rules of the game. London, 1946. Book, the name of the investigative bookseller – a former military spy turned unconventional detective – owns two things: a wonderful bookstore and a letter written by Winston Churchill himself that grants him permission to access crime scenes and investigate them. He is married to Trottie (a wonderful Polly Walker we saw in Bridgerton any Pomegranate) but it is not a traditional marriage but one of convenience: Book is gay and thus manages to survive in a world in which homosexuality was persecuted and punished. She has a dream stationery store next to the bookstore. Everything here is enough to stay and live inside. The reflection of friendship on screen, verbal exchanges and complicity give the series a special touch.
The main trio is completed by Jack, a young man with a prison past who arrives to work at the bookstore, and not by chance. And there is, as expected, a police inspector with very few lights, a textbook Lestrade.
The scenery is exquisite and the recreation of London in full reconstruction (especially the one filmed on the sets) is full of detail. Livraria do Livro is a magical place and the brief conversations about books are a charming encouragement.
Book is a bit like a Sherlock: fast, intuitive, two steps ahead of the rest, but Gatiss gave himself an unusual character. As a bookseller he has that pedantic touch without exaggerating (pay attention to the list of titles, and some tributes for fans of detective fiction) and as a researcher he is original. In both areas he applies his theory: he uses a system (very peculiar, yes) and, in a world governed by chaos, it is still a value.
The resolution of the first crime is classical in style, explanatory and conclusive. It takes a few turns to show how it could have been, as if he were Hercule Poirot at the end of an Agatha Christie novel, showing off circumlocutions and possibilities before unmasking the real person responsible.
The second crime maintains the vital signs of the first, something that is appreciated: when the bet is original, when the point of view or tone changes, there is a risk of staying there (Elsbeth any Matlock are the last two examples). This second double installment of chapters focuses on a filming that takes place in the bookstore. This location represents yet another classic touch, to which even Book dedicates a sentence: the idea that wherever the protagonists are (let them tell Jessica Fletcher) there will be death and crime. It’s a delicious mess of intrigue, false names, unspeakable pasts and other narrative tricks resolved with the efficiency typical of good series.
Even the credits are a small wonder. Do you remember the impact Only murders in the building (Only murders in the building), the originality, the tone? Well, similar, but in London in 1946. Come in and enjoy.
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