The Fall

Gillian Anderson is Stella Gibson in The Fall. 

Last weekend I stayed up late watching The Fall, a BBC program that I had been dying to see (no pun intended).

The murder of a young woman has the police in Belfast stumped so they call in DSI Stella Gibson from the Met in London who quickly sees connections between this murder and prior one. The police at first are reluctant to agree (this might mean they messed up) yet when a similar murder occurs it becomes apparent that they have a serial killer on their hands, one who stalks and preys on young career women. Gibson takes over the investigation and sets about drawing the murderer out before he can kill again.

The main reason I was excited for The Fall is that Gillian Anderson plays Gibson. Yes, Dana Scully of the X-Files is once again donning a lanyard and carrying a gun. I don’t mean to sound glib. Anderson is a fantastic actress. It’s just hard not to think of Scully when she’s in a police tale, especially when she visits the morgue.

Gibson is a type of character popular in mysteries: the single female detective who is intelligent, attractive, lives alone, and appears to need nothing but her job save for the occasional one night stand. It’s been done many times before (think Cordelia Grey in the PD James novels or DCI Jane Tennison in Prime Suspect as a couple of classic examples), and you can now add Anderson’s Gibson to the list.

A good detective and leader, Gibson manages to run a team smoothly. She gives commands without raising her voice, holds her own with the men, and supports the career advances of younger female officers. She is utterly devoted to a case. She lives the job, drinking too much coffee, changing in the women’s room, and even spending some nights on a cot in her office.

She is also attractive and uses it to her advantage, lowering her voice and speaking softly, flipping her long blonde hair, and wearing shirts that almost reveal too much. In fact, her wardrobe is one of the standouts on the show: silk shirts with black pencil skirts and trousers, heels and tailored coats. She always appears put together, a bit posh. It’s only in the close-ups that she allows the fatigue she’s feeling to show in her eyes.

And Gibson is used to getting what she wants. Spotting a good-looking police officer, she asks to be introduced and almost immediately tells him where she’s staying and her room number. For her it’s sex with no strings attached, something that she refers to as “sweet night,” a term borrowed from an African tribe. Gibson knows this because her first degree was in anthropology, one of the few personal details she reveals about herself.

The other cast members are stellar including Jamie Dornan as Paul Spector, a family man and grief counsellor who happens to be a serial killer, John Lynch as ACC Jim Burns who has a history with Gibson, and Niamh McGready as Danielle Ferrington, the young patrol officer who becomes Gibson’s right hand woman.

All five episodes are streaming now on Netflix and the BBC has commissioned a second season (yay!). Watch them all but a word of advice: start your viewing early in the evening, as you’ll want to blast right through all five.

A Murderous Summer

Jean Arthur in a publicity still for The Greene Murder Case (1929).

I love a good mystery. If it’s British and set in the past, then all the better. Which is why I devoted my summer reading this year almost entirely to the genre. There were a few other books thrown in (some biographies on Robert Capa, Sophie Dahl’s newest cookbook) but for the most part my summer was all about murder. Here is a selection of a few of the ones that I read.

No Mark Upon Her

Deborah Crombie

The very married (three times no less) Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and Detective Inspector Gemma James are busy with their growing family when Duncan is asked to head up an investigation into the murder of a female rower with Olympic aspirations. When Gemma discovers possible connections between her case and Duncan’s, the two join together to find the killer. The latest in one of my favourite series. I love Crombie's descriptions of various areas of modern-day London and Duncan and Gemma's relationship. 

Mr. Churchill’s Secretary

Susan Elia MacNeal

It’s 1940 and British-born, American-raised math whiz Maggie Hope has put off graduate school at MIT to return to England to handle some family manners. Needing work and wanting to help with the war effort, Maggie becomes a secretary to Prime Minister Winston Churchill. At first miffed that she wasn’t chosen to be more than a typist, Maggie soon finds herself putting her smarts and life on the line as she races to stop enemies close at home. I really enjoyed this debut and look forward to reading about Maggie’s next adventure.

Faceless Killers

Henning Mankell

Small town Swedish cop Kurt Wallender is called to the scene of the shocking murder of an elderly couple with an unusually tied noose and the word “foreigner” left as clues. Wallender must look into the dead man’s past and find who committed this awful crime before anti-immigrant feelings set off a backlash. I’m late to the whole Scandinavian mystery genre (I just read my first one last year) and am just now catching up. I saw the Kenneth Branagh Wallender series on PBS, including the version of this story, but still got into the writing and would like to read another in the series.

The Redbreast

Jo Nesbø

Norwegian police detective Harry Hole is on reassignment after an unfortunate shooting incident. Dealings with neo-Nazi thugs uncover a tale from the past that leaves his partner dead and Harry in a race to find a killer before an assassination can occur. Weaving effortlessly between World War II Europe and present day Oslo, The Redbreast is a thrilling tale that kept me reading late into the night. Nesbø is a fantastic writer and I would like to read more of his work.

The Invisible Ones

Stef Penney

Private Investigator Ray Lovell comes to in a hospital unable to move or speak. As he slowly regains his health he learns that his near-death experience is tied to his latest case—finding a young Gypsy woman who disappeared seven years earlier. Lovell, who has been hired by the missing woman's father because Lovell is himself half Gypsy, ventures into a Gypsy camp where he uncovers hidden family secrets while confronting his own past. An excellent read and inside look at the world of the Romany people in Britain.

The Dark Enquiry

Deanna Raybourn

In Victorian London Lady Julia is eager to help her husband, Nicholas Brisbane, with his private enquiry business. Brisbane, though, is not sold on the idea. But when Julia attends a séance at the Spirit Club and witnesses the murder of its celebrated medium there's no question of her being left out of the investigation, especially when it turns out one of her brothers is involved. Together the two must solve the case before scandal rocks Julia's family and their marriage. I love the Lady Julia Grey series. They are a nice blend of humour and drama, and the banter between Julia and Brisbane is always entertaining.

A Jolly Good Murder

Michael Kitchen and Honeysuckle Weeks in Foyle's War.

Among the many things that summer brings (humidity, bare legs, gin cocktails) is the return of PBS’ Masterpiece Mystery. And this year one of my favourite detectives is back—Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle—in Foyle’s War.

Set in the English seaside town of Hastings during World War II, the series focuses on Foyle, played by the incomparable Michael Kitchen, who is frustrated to be stuck solving local crimes instead of helping with the war effort. But as we soon discover, there’s plenty of work for Foyle to do. Accompanied by his driver, the ever cheerful Samantha “Sam” Stewart (Honeysuckle Weeks), and Detective Sergeant Paul Milner (Anthony Howell), who lost a leg in the early days of the war, the steadfast and methodical Foyle fights the enemies at home.

Foyle is the epitome of the reserved Englishman. Even while having a gun pointed at his head, he exhibits grace under pressure. He rarely raises his voice; with Foyle, a slight twitch of his mouth can speak volumes. He takes his time observing the people and events around him while allowing us to enjoy his intelligence and dry wit.

Brigadier: What was it? A heart attack?

Foyle: Well, you might say that. He was shot in the chest.

His dogged determination and strong sense of right and wrong lets us know that in the end, justice will prevail. And he drinks scotch. What’s not to love?

After the show was cancelled (bad ITV) someone there with a brain decided to renew it and three new episodes just aired (oh how I miss the old Mystery with its wonderful Edward Gorey opening but that is for another discussion). The new episodes take place right after the war has ended but they are just as good as the prior ones. They will most likely be shown again during the summer but if you don't want to wait (and who does?) they are available now on Netflix. I know I shall be spending more time with Foyle before the summer is over.