Detective Inspector Lynley (Nathaniel Parker) and Detective Sergeant Havers (Sharon Small), Elizabeth George s crime-cracking duo from opposite sides of the track, are back in four intriguing new mysteries. The fifth serie... more »s begins with Lynley suspended from duty for alleged police brutality, and Havers with a new boss. Can they still function as a team, now that they re apart?« less
Diane W. (Nanadi) from RIVER FALLS, WI Reviewed on 7/21/2012...
I really loved this set in the series..had been waiting for it for a long time. I would recommend it to anyone who like British genre!
Movie Reviews
Still Entertaining, but My, How Havers Has Changed.
mirasreviews | McLean, VA USA | 10/16/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This fifth series of the Inspector Lynley Mysteries (PBS calls it Series 6) continues with stories written for television, not based on Elizabeth George's novels. This series conclusion allows the television series to align with the books somewhat, so that future episodes could once again be based on books, if Elizabeth George and the show's producers were so inclined. The first episode picks up after last year's cliffhanger, with Detective Inspector Lynley (Nathaniel Parker) on suspension and separated from his wife Helen. Helen is a presence this season, however, and is now played by Catherine Russell. I don' t know why Helen should be difficult, but this bit of casting is worse than the last.
Lynley and Detective Sergeant Havers (Sharon Small) look conspicuously unlike previous seasons. Lynley looks a bit greasy, older, and worn in a new, longer hairstyle that was wisely trimmed after one episode. Sharon Small is sporting long, flowing locks of lovely red hair and a fairly fashionable wardrobe. Sharon Small was always the most attractive woman in the series. Now she isn't hiding it. But this eliminates the contrast that made Lynley and Havers an odd couple. If they're both handsome and content, neither are interesting. Lafferty (Paul Hickey), the forensic pathologist who was introduced last season, is still around. And a new character, DC Winston Nkata (Shaun Parkes), does a lot of spade work. Episodes are each 85 minutes long, on 4 separate discs.
"Natural Causes" finds DS Havers adapting to yet another new boss and partner as Inspector Lynley awaits the hearing that will hopefully reinstate him to active duty. Blunt, pushy, and pregnant DI Fiona Knight (Liza Tarbuck) and Havers investigate when Edie Covington (Mary Stockley) drowns, her car apparently pushed into a lake, after she and her lover argue in the Kent countryside. Friction develops between Knight and Havers when Knight insists that the culprit must be Edie's estranged partner, while Havers wants to pursue Edie's opposition to a lucrative real estate development as a possible motive. Lynley finds it difficult to sit idly by and insinuates himself into the case, at first doing research, then much deeper.
"One Guilty Deed" takes the detectives to a working class seaside resort town where Havers vacationed as a child. DI Lynley and DS Havers are frustrated when Roger Pollard (David Hepple), their key witness against London organized crime boss Michael Shand (Tom Gerogeson), is murdered on a beach in Essex. Havers gleefully arranges accommodations in a trailer park that brings back childhood memories while they investigate the murder. Pollard was from the town but left 25 years ago under shady circumstances. Something compelled him to return, placing his life in danger, to see old friends Danny Gill (Stuart Laing), now a successful entrepreneur, and Carly Baker (Esther Hall), who manages the trailer park. This mystery feels particularly contrived and sensational.
"Chinese Walls" brings us back to London, where Emily Proctor (Isabella Calthorpe) is found stabbed to death in Hyde Park. Emily had worked for prominent civil rights lawyer Tony Wainwright (Samuel West), whom she had enthusiastically admired since her teens, until leaving his employ a few months before under murky circumstances. Since then, she worked for her half-sister Lisa Conroy's (Georgia McKenzie) internet business, where she had picked up an unwelcome admirer. Family secrets, Emily's relationship with Wainwright, and her unseemly admirer provide an abundance of suspects. This mystery offers twists, turns, and improbable circumstances without going over the top, making it the best of this series.
A press photographer called Peter Rooker (Richard Copestake) is found shot to death in a London alleyway in "In the Blink of an Eye". He was having an affair with the wife of powerful and controlling newspaper owner Eddie Price (Danny Webb). But the trail of suspects also leads to Peter's dangerous and daring past. Nina Delic (Ania Sowinski), a woman whom he had rescued as a girl from war-torn Bosnia, was found hiding in his apartment. Now she is on the run from unknown enemies, out of Lynley and Havers' reach. This mystery is mercifully less melodramatic than the first 2 of this series, but the list of suspects is too short and the mystery too straightforward to be entirely satisfying."
THEY ARE BACK FOR ANOTHER FINE SEASON
GEORGE RANNIE | DENVER, COLORADO United States | 10/08/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"How very nice it is to have another season of "Inspector Lynley". As I have indicated in my previous reviews to seasons 1-4 of this series, I'm very besotted with this Murder/Mystery series along with its leading characters of Detective Inspector Lynley as played by Nathaniel Parker and with especially Detective Sergeant Havers, as played superbly by Sharon Small. They are at the "top of their forms" in season five (5). The "cliff hanger" of Season four (4) is, of course, resolved with Lynley being reinstated (not a surprise) and he and Havers are reunited to solve more dastardly murders which they do so very well. Lynley is also reunited shortly with that wife of his who is a little less dreary than in previous episodes mainly because a "new" actress is playing the role.
Season five (5) (on four (4) discs running about 86 minutes each with one episode per disc) is really very good with scripts that are very well written and directed. The stories kept me highly entertained from their beginnings to their ends. I was always unable to solve the mystery in my mind until "all was revealed".
Be advised that the murder/mysteries in Season 5 are very involved and do require much attention to details; the viewing audience is not "spoon-fed" clues, suspects, etc. In other words, this season offers some really good mysteries!
"
I Love this series, but can't they spring for closed caption
Alex Thomas | 10/07/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I love this series. I have all previous 4 sets (they are all closed captioned). This set however is not closed captioned. The stories are great as always. The only negative thing I have to say is: come on add those closed captions for those of us who have difficulty hearing."
Needs to get away from its gothic romance background or work
Atheen M. Wilson | Mpls, MN United States | 11/04/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I have to say that I still enjoy this series but that my affection for it is largely due to Ms Small, whose character Inspector Havers has developed amazingly well over time. She almost singly handedly carries the series in my opinion. Faced with a variety of real life problems, she seems to have grown with her trials as a real person would. She`s vulnerable without being sappy, caring without being clingy, and tough as nails when she has to be. She's a survivor; she has a history and consistancy. Hers is a very complex character, as those of real people usually are.
My problem with this series is the same as that with the Inspector Jury series. The gothic romance hero gets more and more annoying because he never seems to learn anything. He remains as screwed up as he starts out. While the secondary characters are allowed to grow and mature into normal people with occasional problems, the hero wallows in self criticism and self pity and creates more problems for himself with every decision. The urge to say "get help" is overwhelming.
I find no fault with the actor playing the role of Lynley, but the writers need to carry him beyond the dark, brooding, gothic romance hero he started out. Either that or send him back. Instead, their answer to the difficulty of his womens-romance origin is simply to make him look a little seedy and pathetic--to show he`s a "sensitive kind of guy" maybe. They either need to work with the actor's strong points, which are his elegance and aristocratic features and bearing, or create a new character. The latter probably would not carry the magic of the relationship with Havers. The solution is almost certainly to let the character grow; it`s not as if he can`t. He grew a great deal when he needed to face the issue of his mother's attachment to his father's former doctor and to his own failure to "be there" for his younger brother.
Lynley is a member of the aristocracy, but where's the gliz and glammer of the roll. What does it really mean? What duties are historically his? What relationship does he have with the royal court if any? My feeling is that his family predates that of the present monarchy by centuries. What does that mean? What does being Lord of the Mannor mean to those who live in the region that is his? Do they like him or are they indifferent? Does he have any real roll to perform or is he just an anachronism? Does he have enough money to manage his estate, and what does that mean? What is the family history? Why does he seem so apologetic about having a family that has had roots in England--and probably in France as well--since Heck was a Pup? Where is the glamour that having an aristocrat as a central character should provide the series. Does Havers get involved in this aspect of his life? How does she deal with it? What kind of interesting flash backs to the history of his family could be interjected that might tie to the present generation in interesting ways? Was there a Havers-like character in the family's past? What happened to her. Is there a present collateral branch of the family establish by illicit romantic liasons in the past? How do they relate to the "legitimate" branch of the family. Are they close, indifferent, hostile? Doesn't anything goofy or funny ever happen to an aristocrate? Or do they just brood.
Either the writers have to let go entirely of the gothic romance aspect of the character or they have to make good use of it. The emotional mess thing really gets old.
"
Why watch U.S. network tv
Veronica Erwin | Indy, IN | 10/18/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Love this series. It is both beautiful and thrilling. Amazing stories that keep you on the edge then lets go with a shock. Great writing. Great filming too. No need for bad language, gory scenes, crazy camera tricks. Love this pair of detectives."