Continuing my entanglement with the Criminal Element, I parse two very different British TV crime miniseries: Ordeal by Innocence and Bodyguard. “A country house, a dead body, a pack of suspects—sounds like Agatha Christie, no? Of course, it does. It’s said that Dame Agatha named 1958’s Ordeal by Innocence as one of her two favorite…
Criminal Element: The Fallen Architect
More consorting with the Criminal Element led me to read someone else’s book about a disgraced architect: The Fallen Architect is an atmospheric novel featuring an intriguing mystery, a sympathetic lead (who can also draw and paint), and a (literally) theatrical supporting cast, all set effectively in a colorful milieu….
Criminal Element: Ghost: My Thirty Years as an FBI Undercover Agent
My other recent run-in with the Criminal Element lands me on the right side of the law, with a review of FBI memoir Ghost: The career-end autobiography seems to come in two flavors. The vanilla version is from the person who truly, intensely believes in the organization to which they…
Criminal Element: Babylon Berlin
The Burrow goes to Weimar for my latest scrape with the Criminal Element, a review of the hit German TV series Babylon Berlin: Despite its utter failure to provide stability for the German people between the wars, the late Weimar Republic has been fabulously successful in another regard: providing the…
Criminal Element: Fauda
The Criminal Element meets Doha 12 in my latest review: Fauda is a vivid, fast-paced Israeli political thriller that features kinetic storytelling, expertly played tension, and highly authentic action sequences. It also finds time to present the human side of a conflict that’s become dehumanized over the decades. Its two…
Criminal Element: Four Seasons in Havana
My latest entanglement with the Criminal Element takes me across the Florida Strait to the land of mojitos: The Las cuatro estaciones (Four Seasons in Havana) detective novels have brought Leonardo Padura fame, a certain amount of financial and political independence, a visit by Anthony Bourdain … and now, a…
Criminal Element: Riphagen
My latest run-in with the Criminal Element has me watching a TV show about a bad, bad man: The spectrum of “bad behavior” stretches all the way from kicking puppies to genocide. How despicable can the central character of a movie or TV show be before you can’t watch it…
Hairy Raising: Cleverman
Another entanglement with the Criminal Element led me to discover Cleverman, a limited-run series on the Sundance Channel: We Homo sapiens have gotten pretty used to being the only humanoid species on Earth. So, what would happen if we somehow ran across a cousin species—perhaps a somewhat better design? What…
Your Room is Ready: The Night Manager
While running with the Criminal Element, I checked in with The Night Manager. Here’s what I found: If you’ve made your name writing about Cold War espionage, what do you do when the Cold War ends? If you’re John le Carré, you take a vacation, and then you turn your attention…
In the (Pale) Pink: The Last Panthers
In another brush with the Criminal Element, I introduce the new Sundance limited-run series The Last Panthers. They really existed, you know. The Pink Panthers. The Panthers were a confederation of Balkan thieves, many with military experience in the Bosnian and Kosovar wars of the 90s, who in 2000 started pulling…