Bookish

This elegant piece of work is the crème de la crème of cosy crime. Gatiss has created a world that is evocative and sinister — and in which I want to immerse myself time and time again.

Very entertaining mystery. .... The actor [Mark Gatiss] is so keenly aware of the limits of his character’s charm. And that in itself is charming.

Like the best, by which I mean my favorite such series, it’s humorous and fun, while also being human and sad.

While Bookish enjoys many of the trappings of cosy crime, then the titular detective’s domestic arrangements give the drama an extra dimension.

Overall Bookish is a fine piece of entertainment – meticulously worked, beautifully paced and decidedly moreish. (It was commissioned for a second series before the first began.) It has enough spikiness to stop it being formulaic but enough love for the genre to keep it comforting. A joy.

Bookish is supremely watchable and provides us with a brilliant new TV detective, some craftily constructed puzzles and a fascinating look at post-war London. In fact, it really is saying something that the biggest problem with this first season is that some elements and characters end up feeling underutilised.

On the whole across the first season, it seems like the show is still finding its footing. The spotty clues about who Jack is to Book and Trottie are handled with less grace than the murder mysteries, but are inherently more compelling, which can make it frustrating that the show takes so long to prioritize them.