When I saw that our cable company was doing a Watchathon week,
offering the usual-for-pay channels Starz, Showtime, Hulu, and Peacock
for free, I knew immediately what I wanted to binge in that one week: Dublin Murders. This new BBC TV show, which aired on Starz in November 2019, is based on the first two books of Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad series: In the Woods and The Likeness.
My husband and I are both huge fans of the author and the book series,
and we both enjoyed those first two books. In fact, I just read the
second book, The Likeness, last fall and was blown away by its
unique plot with its unexpected twists. We watched the 8-episode series
last week and both loved it. I will write the show description assuming
you have not yet read the books.
When a young
girl is found murdered in the woods outside of Dublin, with her body
arranged on a rock altar, two detectives in the Dublin Murder Squad are
assigned to the case. Cassie Maddox, played by Sarah Greene, is a recent
addition to the Murder Squad. Her partner, Rob Reilly, played by
Killian Scott, is a relatively new detective, but the two of them work
well together. They answer the initial call to the scene of the crime,
but we soon find out that Rob is hiding an enormous secret. Back in
1985, in these exact same woods, Rob was a young boy named Adam and the
sole survivor of three friends who went into those woods and were never
seen again. The experience was so traumatic and the other parents and
neighbors so cruel to young Adam that his parents shipped him off to
boarding school in England, where he changed his name and started a new
life. Rob remembers nothing of the crucial 90 minutes between when he
and his friends went into the woods and when he was found, alone and
screaming with blood in his shoes but unhurt, by the police. Cassie
knows Rob's secret and insists they pass the case to other detectives,
but Rob soon gets caught up in it and refuses to give it up. Cassie
reluctantly agrees. As the case moves forward, past and present mingle,
and Rob becomes obsessed, not only with solving the present murder but
with finding out what happened to him and his two friends 20 years ago.
Meanwhile,
a second case crops up that personally involves Cassie. A young woman
is found murdered who not only looks like Cassie's twin but is carrying
ID that identifies her as Lexie Mangan, an undercover alias that Cassie
created and used in a drug case, pretending to be a student at the
nearby university. This new Lexie is a grad student at the university,
living with four other grad students in a big, old house in town.
Believing the fake Lexie's murder must be connected to their old drug
case, Cassie's prior boss in undercover work convinces her to resume her
Lexie alias. They tell the housemates that Lexie barely survived her
knife wound, and Cassie moves into the house, pretending to be Lexie, in
order to find out who actually murdered Lexie, now a Jane Doe. What
could go wrong?
Readers of the books will immediately
recognize that the TV show combines the timelines for both books 1 and 2
into a single timeframe and TV season. This was a bit disorienting to
us at first ("hey, why is Lexie showing up already?"), but we soon
adjusted. The cast and crew have done a great job of recreating these
outstanding novels. The show has a sinister tone with a constant
undercurrent of tension. Both Rob and Cassie have dark histories that
interfere with their jobs, though both of them are completely committed
to solving these crimes, whatever it takes. The mysteries of both past
and present are slowly revealed, with plenty of twists and unexpected
turns along the way, creating fabulous suspense that will keep you
watching to find out what happens next. As in the books, not every
question is neatly answered, and both Cassie and Rob are further damaged
by their dark secrets and compulsion to solve their cases, no matter
what the cost. Given our 1-week timeframe (more like 6 days when we
realized it was temporarily free), we eagerly watched all eight episodes
last week and absolutely loved the ride it took us on. Whether you have
read the books or not, this is an excellent mystery/suspense series to
sink your teeth into.
As of May 1, the show had been
neither cancelled nor approved for a second season yet, but we are
hoping they continue the show. I am about to read the third book in Tana
French's series, The Faithful Place, so I will be ready if the show comes back next year!
Dublin Murders
is currently available on Starz and Hulu, with a subscription (or do as
we did and check your cable company for a free week promotion). It is
also available on Amazon for $1.99 an episode (8 episodes total) or you can sign up for a free Starz trial through Amazon at the link.
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