All Day Coffee Break: British Mystery more detailed.

I have only watched the British Mysteries that have been spoon-fed to me over the years by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp and a great channel called TVOntario (all Educational for the kids but great shows and movies at night for the rents).

My favorite without a doubt is Inspector Frost- he's a crotchety Inspector that usually investigates against the rules but gets away with it. I love it. This is still pretty current in the UK but I usually am about a year behind by the time TVO buys the series.

Poirot is very good too. He is based on Agatha Christies Books but David Suchet does such a great job of being classy and the sets with all the art deco from that period (I'm guessing late 1920s) is gorgeous. He's got an assistant who's obviously in love with him (a little james bond tension) but he's quite oblivious. Love it!

Rosemary and Thyme is a great guilty pleasure - two confident ladies in their early 50s have their own horticultural business but always seem to end up coming across dead bodies as their tossing compost or picking perennials. The show is parochial but doesn't give too much away.

This is definitely in repeat but I love him and think he's quite sexy - Midsommer Murders. This man is an inspector again in middle UK so you get the lovely UK scenery, old churches, gardens castles etc. Some old school master upsets the wrong person at a reunion and the Inspector is back to work - the poor man never gets a vacation.

Inspector Morse was great too - nice car, 1960s England. The man is suave but not in a smarmy way. Can't recall much about the show other than it was entertaining at the time.

A little bit more current and very gritty and very much opposi

ng the mans world of crime is Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect. She is fantastic in this. She will be taking on the role of Nick Cages mom in the latest National Treasure movie but her best work is in this little gem of a show. I wonder if it is still in the works.

Also following along the lines of grit but heart is Rebus - an man of many faults but likable and on the side of justice - You have to see it with John Hannah (the idiot brother in The Mummy).

I hope you've had a chance to see these. If not I highly recommend hunting them down.

I love Miss Marple too but the original black and white over the later actresses.

These are the ones that really stand out to me at the moment.

At this point in a response to Attila the Mom I told her I would be copying this email to her to be the basis of my blog. I am sure that someone else can review these shows in much better detail than I but these are the Brit shows near and dear in my heart in the Mystery Genre.