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Rating:  - Inspector Alleyn
I love this series of Inspector Alleyn of Scotland Yard. I enjoy the main character with his quiet ways and the lack of blood and gore
Rating: - Four superb Ngaio Marsh mystery films detailed
Here we have the second set in the BBC series, starring Patrick Malahide as the aristocratic Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn, William Simons as Detective Inspector Fox, and Belinda Lang as Alleyn's fiancé and renowned artist, Agatha Troy. The setting for these great Ngaio Marsh mysteries is England, portions being wedged in time between the two great wars but mostly a few years beyond that era.
These four color films on DVD are at least as entertaining as the first set and I was very pleased with the overall quality. They run 98 minutes each and the aspect is 4:3, full-screen. All the films were produced in the early 1990s.
In "Scales of Justice," (Jim Goddard, director), a retired military man is murdered as he casts for "The Old-un" along his favorite trout stream. Just prior to his demise, he had been charged with publishing the memoirs of a recently dead associate and those scandalous writings cause an entire family to clam up as Chief Inspector Alleyn tries to solve the murder. This is a really top mystery, conveyed with beautiful cinematography and plenty of British aristocratic atmosphere.
"Dead Water," (John Woods, director), takes place on a scenic Scottish Island where a "magic waterfall" is becoming renowned for having restored health to people from their otherwise incurable diseases. To add to the legend, a "green lady" is said to haunt the mists of the falls. The local community tries to exploit their good fortune, commercializing the wondrous H2O in every possible way but the leaseholder of the property, a determined old spinster, means to disrupt any pecuniary benefits for the islanders. Chief Inspector Alleyn fears that her demise is inevitable and rushes to her rescue but, once there, he has to investigate murder.
"Death in a White Tie" (John Woods, director), transpires entirely in London, urban scenery prevailing. Up against a case of blackmail, Chief Inspector Alleyn asks an elderly aristocratic friend to do some snooping as he makes his rounds of the debutante balls and art gallery receptions. But when the friend turns up murdered, an enraged Alleyn tosses out all the rules to solve both cases, as they appear to be connected.
A weird and dysfunctional family is the focus of "Hand in Glove," (Martyn Friend, director), and Chief Inspector Alleyn is called in when one of the clan is murdered. At the same time, Alleyn's right hand man, Inspector Fox, discovers a hidden cache of faked paintings during the raid of an unlicensed nightclub - these paintings are of special interest to Alleyn since the originals were painted by his off-and-on fiancé, Agatha Troy! Of course, clues discovered during the investigation of each case ultimately bring them together as one.
For British mystery/cozy murder fans, "Dead Water" takes first place, "Scales of Justice" is second, "Hand in Glove" third, and, "Death in a White Tie" last, albeit the least of the four is still very good. These film versions of Marsh's works are clearly conveyed with the original stories in mind.
The excellence of this set well-deserves my highest rating.
Rating: - Very good series
I cannot add to the good things that have been printed here by other reviewers. Although the DVD set indicates closed captioning is available, I can't get it on my TV. We need CC because our 60+ year old ears have a difficult time understanding the British accent. I will say we did not have any problem with the accent, the actors spoke clearly and distinctly. Also, there was not a lot of background music to interfere with the dialogue.
Rating: - Excellent and intelligent!
This series was brilliant. The acting, writing, camera work, direction and costuming were superb. This is definately worth every penny spent. Start a fire, pour some wine, curl up with someone comfortable, and prepare to be entertained....
Rating:  - British Mystery
Very well acted period detective murder mystery. Some language a little difficult to understand but overall interesting.
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