I've been a fan of Columbo since childhood, so hearing that there was a series that was "like if Columbo was an ambush predator instead of a persistence hunter" instantly caught my attention. That series is Inspector Furuhata Ninzaburō , a Japanese crime drama from the 90s. The format is similar to Columbo—a "howcatchem" with special guest stars—but with a "Challenge to the Reader"-esque break before the climax where you're encouraged to try and figure out what trick Furuhata will use to corner the culprit. Furuhata also addresses the audience at the start of each episode with spectacularly unhelpful "advice" that hints at the key point of the mystery. "If you wear a blue shirt, black pants, and a purple jacket, please don't wear a red scarf," he informs us, "because you will lose some friends." Furuhata himself, played by Masakazu Tamura, is memorably and charismatically awful. While Columbo can irritate peo...

Originally posted January 6, 2025. Recently, I’ve been killing time while my wife is commuting home by checking out the offerings on Acorn TV. The streaming service has a lot of mysteries and a lot of British shows, but it also has quite a few Australian shows that I’d never heard of, which made for a nice change of pace. Mr. and Mrs. Murder (2013), a witty mystery series about a plucky married couple whose cheerful attitudes contrast with their grisly job as crime scene cleaners, was one of these. Verdict: watchable, if you have nothing else to put on. I initially assumed that Mr. and Mrs. Murder was following in the footsteps of the British comedy series The Cleaner (2021), until I realized that it had actually been released in 2013. In that case, it would seem to be the first anglosphere take on the German TV series Der Tatortreiniger (“Crime Scene Cleaner”), which debuted two years earlier, in 2011. That, or it’s just one of those weird cultural zeitgeists where...

Originally posted May 29, 2024. “One of my names,” she said, “is Nemesis.” “Nemesis? And what does that mean?” “I think you know,” said Miss Marple. “You are a very well educated woman. Nemesis is long delayed sometimes, but it comes in the end.” — Nemesis, by Agatha Christie When my wife gets home from work, we like to unwind with vaguely investigative popcorn shows. The latest that we’ve finished is Ms. Ma, Nemesis ( Miseu Ma: Boksuui Yeosin ) (2018), a Korean thriller-mystery serial created by Hong Chang-wook with writer Park Jin-woo,that loosely adapts the Ms. Ma rple series by Agatha Christie. I was inspired to check it out by the glowing review over on Ah Sweet Mystery! A creative re-imagining of Christie that re-tools the component stories into one longform thriller? Sign me up! We had a great time with it, and the series is an interesting adaptation—but some of its original elements were the parts I liked most. The series is based on five Ms. Marple boo...