The Madame Blanc Mysteries

Jean White is an antiques dealer who runs a successful business with her husband, Rory. But when he suddenly dies and leaves her nearly penniless, Jean relocates to their one remaining asset - a cottage in French antiques hub Saint Victoire - and begins investigating Rory's mysterious death.

I have liked Sally Lindsay since Coronation Street and then later Mount Pleasant, so when i saw she was creator and co-writer (with another cast member) of this series, it rose to near the top of the many shows I want to watch. It was entertaining, mostly, and though I am not at all into antiques, I thought the information the character revealed about objects and artwork was interesting for the most part. The dialogue was witty in places and the chemistry among the cast was fairly solid, though I found one couple to be rather cliched and eye-rollingly two-dimensional. But perhaps that was intentional. The mystery subplots were less interesting than the personal interactions among the characters, which perhaps isn’t a terrible thing. But I found it ironic that Madame Blanc became good at solving crimes that affected others but seemed helpless regarding her own problems, even when a certain detail becomes more obvious to the viewer. It made the ending seem unconvincing and a bit unbelievable, mainly designed to set up a new series. The show was strong enough not to require this teaser ending. I expect I will watch the second series if it is green lighted, but it won’t rise as quickly up the list of shows to be watched next time around.

I loved this show. The cast are all marvellous and engage you quickly. The setting is glorious-and the crime solving and relationship solving are delightful. They have gathered a great collection of UK and EU actors to make this show.