Last year I had a terrible job. I would come home covered in flour, exhausted, stiff, and a little depressed. One day a week, I would lay on my bed on top of the covers and watch a show called The Chelsea Detective.[i] It’s a straight-forward British murder mystery: a touch cozy, a touch serious. It follows a team of detectives, Max (Adrian Scarborough) and Priya (Sonita Henry), who solve murders in Chelsea, a wealthy part of London. It has the usual discomfort of some kinds crime stories, mainly the centering of police detectives, but it has the delights that I devour: an intriguing setting, vibrant characters, and the smooth, comforting rhythm of a puzzle being solved. Max is quiet and thoughtful and lives on a houseboat on the Thames. There are many fun scenes of bickering with his ex-wife, who he is not fully over. Priya is kind, serious about her work, and is a new mom, balancing her work with her daughter and hot husband. The medical examiner, as is often the case in these shows, is quirky and sardonic. The musical score is serene piano and strings, and the color palate is blue and green, like peaceful water. Recovering from work, I bathed in it.
Keeping It Light
Recently, I’ve been walking around feeling disconnected. I can’t seem to find meaning in any of my stupid little routines. To combat it, I do self-care: cook and eat meals, go for runs, do yoga, take baths, take walks. I drink coffee and wine. I read and write and watch television. But I feel as if I’m in a fog, viewing my life from the outside. I feel like I am dissolving into capitalism: an endless string of busy-ness and tasks without any true meaning. All the while, the fabric of society is crumbling, and the flimsiness of our social fabric is being exposed. There’s climate change and gun violence to worry about, and what are Republican politicians doing? Banning abortion and drag shows and gender affirming healthcare. I mean, for fuck’s sake. Sometimes at work, people ask me how I am. I say, “I’m good! My weekend was lovely!” There is a part of me that wants to show them my internal self, and shriek and wail. At least it would be interesting, but it might jeopardize my income.
My theory about skincare routines is that they are about control. We have so little control over our lives. To live a human life is to experience chaos and circumstance. We are mortal beings who must live with the certainty of death, and the unpredictability of how or when it will happen to us. What a horror. So, we distract. Wellness culture is about self-deception. There is a part of us that thinks that if we do everything perfectly, we can combat mortality. If I can just keep my skin glowing and my bowels moving, then everything will be ok. I am in control.
I was going to keep April’s newsletter light. I was thinking about writing about the way murder mysteries have simplistic ideas about justice, but I thought, that’s a bit heavy for now. So here I am, keeping it light.
The light-dark dichotomy is why I like cozy and comedic mysteries. My mind is a dark place. I have to distract myself constantly so that I don’t fall into pits of despair and overwhelm. I’ve been dealing with some grief recently, and I’ve been exhausting myself with organization and tidying. I updated our emergency go-bag and first-aid kit. I ordered a bunch of first aid handbooks. I re-organized the bookshelf and kitchen. I have an endless list of shit I can do to help me feel like I have some control over my life. Anyway, murder mysteries are about control. And when they delight with quirky characters, jokes, and serenity, while also featuring grisly murders, that strange, unsettling tension between light and dark feels true to life. For all their narrative contrivances and unreality, because in real life murders are only “solved” half the time and justice is a concept rarely realized, that tension is what makes them feel true. I organize my apartment, sip coffee, smell lavender, grow plants, squeeze my loved ones tightly—and all the while the world is what it is. Light and dark at once, a strange dichotomy that is comforting in its realness.
The Delight of Tropes
Throughout all the cozy and cozy-ish mystery shows, there are certain tropey episodes that appear again and again. For example, there’s the dance episode: the detectives have to infiltrate a dance troupe or class to solve the murder. Dancing, flirting, and the dramatic personalities of the suspects are the staples of this trope. There is the niche group episode: the detectives have to interview a group of magicians, stamp collectors, bird watchers, etc., and we get to enjoy the absurd group dynamics. There’s the beast/werewolf/big cat myth: the murderer appears to be a beast of some kind, and often the small town is convinced it could be supernatural. The theater episode: someone is killed by a prop knife, prop gun, or light fixture, and all the suspects are annoying actors. There’s the episode where the villagers suspect the killer is a witch, ghost, or demon, but is just a human (the classic Scooby-Doo construction.) There is the sports team murder, the murder of a member of a band, and of course the winery or brewery murder. Bonus points if the murder victim is found in a full wine or beer barrel. And these are just a few!
One could say this is laziness on the writer’s part, and sometimes I do find myself fatigued by the less creative versions of these tropes. But the tropes also make this genre a collective narrative project. Everyone writing in this genre seems to understand it, and it is constantly commenting upon itself. The act of writing, and then watching, murder mysteries is like a collective game. Sometimes, I can predict exactly how someone was killed, who the murderer was, and who is going to be murdered next. Some shows, like Poker Face[ii] and McDonald and Dodds[iii], play with tropes with a self-awareness and purposely twist them to surprise the audience. Both are fun: being able to see the narrative unfolding and being surprised by it. The first is relaxing and the second exciting. In fact, the mystery itself is the secondary pleasure. The narrative routines and their many variations are where I find the delight.
Best Tropey Episodes
If you want to dive into some of these tropes and shows, here are some good episodes to start with.
The Theater: My Life is Murder, Season 2, Episode 7, “All The Better To See You.”
Synopsis: Alexa (Lucy Lawless) is a retired and widowed police detective who now consults for the police and bakes bread in Auckland, New Zealand. In this episode, she solves the murder of a man who was killed by a prop knife while playing the wolf in a feminist, stage re-telling of Little Red Riding Hood.
Vibe: Quirky and fun. Bright color palette, fantastic clothes, and a sweet cast including Alexa’s tech-savvy partner (Ebony Vagulans) and a subtle sexual tension with the hot detective (Rawiri Jobe) who assigns her cases. My Life Is Murder also has a pretty good winery episode in season two, “Crushed Dreams.” Find on Acorn TV.
The Band: Queens of Mystery, Season 1, Episodes 3 & 4, “Death By Vinyl.”
Synopsis: Detective Mattie Stone (Olivia Vinall) solves murders in her quaint hometown with the help of her three crime-writing aunts, Beth (Sarah Woodward), Jane (Siobhan Redmond), and Cat (Julie Graham). In this episode, a member of an '80’s new wave band is murdered in the recording studio, and the mystery uncovers secrets about Cat’s girlfriend who died decades before.
Vibe: Whimsical, almost fairy-tale like. Tonally and aesthetically similar to Pushing Daisies. Julie Graham is particularly good in this episode. Find on Acorn.
Niche Interest Group: Murdoch Mysteries, Season 13, Episode 5, “The Philately Fatality.”
Synopsis: Long-running period piece, beginning in 1890’s Toronto. Detective William Murdoch (Yannick Bisson), is a gentle and ingenious inventor of technology who solves crimes along with a huge cast of fun characters. In this episode, detectives Murdoch and Watts (Daniel Maslany) investigate a murder of a member of a stamp collecting club (the Philatelists) who was killed while hosting a party for queer men. Detective Watts has a personal revelation and meets a hot butcher named Jack (Jesse LaVercombe).
Vibe: Varies wildly from straight-forward mystery, to comedy, to melodrama. Lots of wordplay, general silliness, romances, and convoluted side plots. Earlier seasons are more contained, it gets wackier as it goes on. Features many characters who are famous celebrities and inventors of the time period. Has the worst theme song in the world. Find on Acorn and Hulu.
Dance Troupe/Class: Agatha Raisin, Season 3, Episode 2, “The Deadly Dance.”
Synopsis: See March’s newsletter for full synopsis. In this episode, Agatha (Ashley Jenson), now a private detective in the Cotswolds, is hired to look into death threats and an attempted murder at a wedding. She and her band of friends must learn to tango to interrogate the suspects.
Vibe: Comedic and delightful. Big cast of amusing characters, bright color palette, and Agatha is always wearing something equally colorful, fashionable, and hilarious. Find on Acorn.
Dance Troupe Honorable Mention: iZombie, Season 5, Episode 3. “Five, Six, Seven, Ate!”
Synopsis: Olivia, “Liv” Moore (Rose McIver) is a secret zombie in Seattle who works in the city morgue and solves murders by eating the brains of the murder victims and seeing visions from their lives. In this episode, Liv and her boss Ravi (Rahul Kohli) go undercover in a dance competition.
Vibe: A cozy mystery/high concept sci-fi show. Bright and fun, often funny, but can be dark and a bit twisted. Gets more ambitious as it goes and doesn’t always land, but the cast is great and the world building, mysteries, and characters are all exciting. Find on Netflix.
The Beast/Big Cat: Endeavour, Season 3, Episode 3, “Prey”
Synopsis: Detective Endeavour Morse (Shaun Evans) solves crimes and deals with his bummer of a personal life in 1960’s Oxford. Prequel to Inspector Morse. In this episode, Morse and his mentor Detective Inspector Thursday (Roger Allam) investigate the disappearance of an au pair while dealing with the escalating suspicion of a dangerous beast roaming the countryside.
Vibe: Serious and methodical but not “gritty.” Masterpiece Theater vibe. Color palate like a valencia Instagram filter. This particular episode is pretty intense and exciting. Find on Amazon Prime.
Thanks for Reading!
That’s all I’ve got for now, friends! If you know anyone who might enjoy this newsletter, please pass it along. Take care and keep puzzling.
[i] The Chelsea Detective: find streaming on AcornTV.
[ii] Poker Face: see March’s newsletter for full description. Find streaming on Peacock.
[iii] McDonald and Dodds: detectives McDonald (Tala Gouveia) and Dodds (Jason Watkins) solve bizarre and complex crimes in Bath while learning how to work together. Both are overlooked by the establishment, but prove to be an impressive team. Vibe: playful, whimsical, and serene. Bright color palette. Intriguing characters and great friend/colleague chemistry between the leads. Find streaming on BritBox.