MURDOCH MYSTERIES

Crime, Drama, Mystery | TV Series (2008– ) 

In the 1890s, William Murdoch uses radical forensic techniques for the time, including fingerprinting and trace evidence, to solve some of the city’s most gruesome murders. —IMBd

 

Murdoch is filled with endearing characters. Toronto Detective William Murdoch (Yannick Bisson) is a straight-laced but charming young Catholic man who, through his forward thinking and novel use of 19th century forensics, solves strange and convoluted crimes. His love interest (or not), Dr. Julia Ogden (Helene Joy), contrasts Murdoch’s primness as a female pathologist who leans undoubtedly to the feminist side. Inspector Thomas Brackenreid (Thomas Craig) as the red-haired blusterous head of the precinct fills many roles between brave savior and drunken stooge. Constable George Crabtree (Jonny Harris) is smart, energetic, sweet, and lovable. I think I like him best of all.

One of the most enjoyable things about this long-running Canadian television drama is Murdoch’s fondness of nifty inventions. Sometimes they get a little too nifty, but it’s fun to speculate what he will think up next, and with the help of noted pros such as Nikola Tesla and Harry Houdini, anything can happen. His list of notable friends and acquaintances doesn’t stop there: Murdoch also runs into Buffalo Bill Cody, Annie Oakley, H G Wells Jack London, Arthur Conan Doyle, Henry Ford, and more as he solves his murder cases.

The Victorian era costumes are lovely and well-executed though they seem a little more Music Man than Outlander. Some of the jewelry is almost blatantly a modern imitation of the Victorian style, but now I’m being picky.

Though Murdoch Mysteries is definitely a cozy series, scenes of wounds and autopsies, though not particularly lifelike, can be a little gruesome.