Mystery Summer: Week 3

We continue our mystery summer with our no. 1 favorite: Foyle's War. This is a British period mystery set during and immediately following the second World War. It is set in the coastal town of Hastings (as in the same Hastings that was the site of the famous Battle of Hastings when William the Conqueror came in and cleaned house with the Anglo-Saxon nobles, making Britain a Norman holding for the next...well, basically forever).

Michael Kitchen is Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle and he is a man for whom right is right and there is no room for legal compromise, moral ambiguity or justifications of wrongdoing in a time of war. And for his perfect moral uprightness, sharp intelligence and ever-polite, courteous (but definitely not friendly) manner, he is probably our very favorite of all detectives. And really, that is saying a lot!

He is backed by Sergeant Milner, a war veteran sent home from the fight because of the loss of a leg in combat. Milner (Anthony Howell) is not your typical bumbling, ineffective sergeant. He is extremely intelligent and capable but lacks Foyle's black-and-white confidence about questions of morality, intent and the violent, war-torn world he lives in.

Rounding out the crew is Sam (Honeysuckle Weeks), a can-do girl who performed so poorly in the women's mechanized transport corps that she was transferred to the police as Foyle's driver--which suits her just fine. Her constant optimism and childlike humor brings some lightness to the series and even gives her boss something to smile about.

The series was meticulously produced with historically accurate details from the costumes and uniforms to the aircraft and cars, telephones, weaponry, etc. and provides a fascinating glimpse of everyday life in a terrible period of modern history. The whole series is just fantastic and is available on Netflix instant. Well worth anyone's time.