The title “Murder in … (Season 15)” applies to a wraparound for an anthology of 90-minute French crime telefilms that all feature different casts and locales. The common thread is that each murder mystery occurs in a new picturesque locale with protagonist cops of varying types and combinations dispensing justice, after sorting through a handful, or more, of suspects and motives. The lovely, plentiful transition scenes are noteworthy for showing why each site “du jour” – mostly coastal – attracts vacationers. One almost wonders if the national tourism board underwrites the productions to spread the business around the country.
These TV movies have been running for about 15 years as stand-alone dramas. There’s little repetition of characters, though some actors may recur in other roles. MHz Choice streams them here under the” Murder In… “ umbrella, mostly adding the city or town for each to the title. This release is eight cases, all of which work well for those who like intelligent procedurals with relatively little blood and gore. The array of plots is as diverse as the range of settings. And since none relate to each other, one can watch them in any order, and without any need to binge – unless you’re pushing to screen them all in time to write a review in time for the first of the eight weekly releases.
They open with a Dutch ex-soldier found dead in a strange pose on the French side of lush Caribbean isle of Saint-Martin/Sint Maarten. That gets resolved after a brief jurisdictional turf dispute between the two counties that share dominion there. The one set in CATALONIA begins with the murder of an aging flamenco dancer who is trying to revive her career. In CONCARNEAU, the body of the owner of a fleet of vessels washes ashore in a wet suit, though no one knew why he would have been in the water. The surly lead cop here, Gabriel Riviere (Guillaume Arnault) is the least likeable of the season’s crime busters, seething with old grudges.
In PERIGORD, a woman is crowned queen of a territory that still maintains a mostly-symbolic royal lineage. Her reign lasts only a couple of hours before she’s assassinated. I suppose it counts as one, rather than just a garden-variety murder, since the title comes with a mansion on valuable property, a nice bundle of money, and a multi-generational tradition of supporting Chile’s Mapuche Indians as its main cause. This struck me as one of the more interesting plots. Next, we go to the BALAGNE area of Corsica with a citadel surrounding much of the town. That’s important since the stiff that triggers this case was ostentatiously hanged from the top of its high wall, overlooking the busy harbor. This one really delves deeply into the emotions of the principals, as the lead cop came there from Paris for her late husband’s memorial service before being roped into the investigation. Very solid, moving character drama.
AUDIERNEflirts with the supernatural. Local legend has it that ancient ruins are buried under the sea just off the coast, and that church bells can be heard by some as a warning of impending danger. Of course, that becomes a tourism lure, with dive cruises to find it, as other entrepreneurs do in many places with their local “haunted” houses. As far as I know, this is the only one that starred actors (Evelyne Bouix, Jeremy Banster) as protagonists who’d paired in those roles before. Twice.
REGULUS CAVES plied more familiar thematic territory, with a guy found on the cliffs by some ruins, fatally stabbed and posed just like a woman’s body had been 20 years earlier. That murder remained unsolved. Are they related? Anyone who’s ever seen even a handful of crime shows knows they must be. But the process of making the connection is still well played by perhaps my favorite pair of sleuths of this lot, played by Shemss Audat and Antoine Hamel.
The last one is set in a tennis tournament taking place in Paris, on the Roland Garros’ clay courts that host the French Open. The most promising young woman in the competition is found dead on Court 13 just before matches are scheduled to begin, unearthing a web of rivalries and issues among the teen players, their parents and staff members. This one is noteworthy for the presence of former pro star Yannick Noah in a significant role. It also stars an engaging pair of cops played by Florent Peyre and Roxanne Roux, who might deserve their own series.
Bottom line – not a clunker in the bunch. Each offers pleasing visuals. All are typically restrained on displays of violence and number of shots fired, as in most European procedurals. Casting directors made fine choices all around, even including the dude I didn’t like. Genre fans will vary as to which they prefer, but none will be disappointed with these relaxing bits of mystery escapism.
https://watch.mhzchoice.com/murder-in
“Murder in… Season 15”, in French with subtitles, begins streaming on MHz Choice on February 24, with one release each week thereafter.