I have been on a huge British mystery television kick recently: Life on Mars, Ashes to Ashes, Cracker, and, most recently, Wallander. Wallander, which is has been the featured program on PBS's Mystery! these past two weeks, stars Kenneth Branagh (above) and is based on the books by Henning Mankell.
Wallander is a morose detective - he's gotten teary in both episodes so far, overwhelmed by the senselessness of the violence he's seen - operating out of Ystad, Sweden. He's not the sort of the detective who solves cases through brilliant epiphanies, but rather through steady, thorough policework. Accordingly, Wallander is not a fast-paced show. It's slow, and a bit sad, but quite engaging.
This is mostly due to the character of Wallander himself (and the wonderful, understated way Branagh has played him); accordingly, I'd love to start reading the Wallander books. Of course, the public television and public library demographics seem to overlap quite a bit, so they're on a long wait there. I'd love to buy them, but at thirteen bucks a pop, I think I'd be better off being patient. However, if your community has not caught on yet or you're interested in stimulating the economy, I think they look good.
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