REVIEW: ‘Queens of Mystery’ on Acorn TV
Photo: Queens of Mystery stars, from left, Sarah Woodward and Siobhan Redmond. Photo courtesy of Acorn TV / Provided by press site with permission.
Queens of Mystery, an original show from Acorn TV, is a fun, colorful and cleverly written murder mystery that employs the talents of many superb actors. The first series of the show is now available on DVD and to stream on the Acorn TV service.
Detective Sgt. Mattie Stone (Olivia Vinall) has led an interesting life, one that from a young age seemed primed for a career solving murders. For starters, her mother went missing when she was a young child. One moment she was being pushed on a swing by her loving mum, and then the next, she was left alone, needing to be raised by her three curious, mystery-obsessed aunts.
These aunts — played by Sarah Woodward, Julie Graham and Siobhan Redmond — are the true comedic pulse of the show and no doubt the reason for viewers to check out this first slate of six episodes. They are wonderfully oddball and perfectly enjoyable. For example, one owns a mystery bookshop called Murder Ink (coincidentally, a bookshop by this same name used to be located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan), and Mattie lives in the apartment above the shop.
Each of the aunts is a crime writer, and in the first episode of the show, they are gearing up for a local book festival. In fact, Woodward’s Aunt Beth is in the running for mystery writer of the year, but an actual murder at the writers’ event gets in the way of her celebration.
This first mystery, which is split into two episodes, is dubbed “Murder in the Dark” and deals with the death of another famous crime writer. There’s no actual scares and thrills in Queens of Mystery, so the letting of blood is never too difficult to handle. Julian Unthank’s series is more on the comedic side of the genre spectrum, although it’s great fun trying to figure out whodunit.
One of the best qualities of the first series involves the voiceover from none other than Juliet Stevenson (Bend It Like Beckham and The Hour). She keeps the plot moving along, filling in any holes and gently drawing the audience’s eye to the next clue. Because of this voiceover, Queens of Mystery feels very much like reading an armchair detective novel. Hints are dropped along the way, and it’s up to the viewer to keep track of the possible suspects (which are deliriously numerous).
Queens of Mystery is a welcome addition to Acorn’s original programming, and one hopes Mattie and her aunts have a few more comedic investigations up their sleeves.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Queens of Mystery is now available on DVD and to stream on Acorn TV. Click here for more information.
