As much I prefer the British detectives, I do like to look around and see what other countries have to offer. And I've stumbled on a treasure trove of 11 seasons, each with 9 episodes, of Murder In... a French series that uses a repeating pair of female prosecutor and a CIO that so far flirt and tease each other, but haven't yet hit the sheets.
The series features other crime solvers, but the real stars are the scenery. And what scenery it is! It's a Michelin guide to the French countryside of small villages, tiny streets, fishing villages filled with small craft, gorgeous mountains and lush valleys with grazing cattle. The blurb for the series on Amazon Prime reads: A gorgeous collection of mysteries, each one set in a different picturesque region of France. "Enjoy French towns and areas you may have never seen before." Or known anything about for that matter.
Take the last one I viewed, Murder in Lozère. Lozère features the most magnificent series of caves and caverns and towering stalagmites that rival Howe Caverns, or anything else like that in the U.S. So of course when the volunteer tour guide gets stabbed in the heart, the crime solving team of Elizabeth, the Deputy Prosecutor and Jeansac (Paul) dispatched from a specialist unit arrive on the scene.
Elizabeth is widowed, quite attractive, and a single mom raising a teenage son who is in boarding school. Her husband was a special forces pilot killed in some kind of mission that is still classified. She's a former cop who went to law school and fills the judicial role in France that requires a prosecutor to oversee murder investigations. She is Paul's boss during the investigations.
Elizabeth arrives driving her Renault, playing classical music quite loud: Beethoven symphonies, music from Carmen, or the overture from The Marriage of Figaro. She's whip smart, and in the vein of making the female leads a little smarter than the male leads, pretty much outshines Jeansac, who is smart enough, but dislikes being shown up by a woman. Don't they all?
The beauty of the scenery belies the ferociousness of the crimes that occur there. The villagers are naturally suspicious of outsiders, carry grudges for generations over whose grandfather screwed whose grandmother, or what family was a nest of Nazi sympathizers.
I don't know, but my guess is the pairing of Elizabeth and Jeansac is a favorite in France. Even in rural areas, crime solving takes expected turns.
They need to establish a timeline for the victim's movements before they were killed. Did they find the cell phone, or laptop? Is there any CCTV or door bell footage from the area? Financial records must be subpoenaed. Who didn't like the victim? It doesn't help that nearly the entire town didn't like them.
There is always an autopsy, and always someone has to identify the body. What was the murder weapon? Despite the remoteness of these places, forensic people and a pathologist all appear in white suits.
DNA is of course important, and a rush is needed from the lab. Tell them that. Everybody has a database, and finger prints and DNA are either found in it, or not.
This being France, the principals drink wine and not tumblers of Scotch whiskey. They eat well, and discuss the case, or trade some sassy remarks that of course is endearing. Each episode in the series is one crime, discovered, and solved within 90 minutes. Despite the ruralness of these places and their charm, several people have usually bit the dust before the credits roll.
The shows seem to be produced by a variety of French production companies. The dialogue is in French, but the subtitles are easy enough to follow. Nothing is lost. "Fuck" seems to come through in any language.
I don't know how far I have to get into the seasons before Elizabeth and Paul succumb to passion and hit the sheets somewhere. Maybe it won't happen.
Nah, it's got to.
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