The Inspector Lynley Mysteries - Series 6

Not Dead Yet
I mentioned when writing about season five that this delicately etched and excellently acted series on PBS's "Mystery" was my favorite. It still is. I truly believe it is the finest show on television. Nathaniel Parker's Inspector Thomas Lynley and Sharon Small's Barbara Havers are eagerly awaited with passion each season by this viewer like nothing else on television.

Based on Elizabeth George's characters, the BBC show has grown and matured into something really special. The mysteries are always well-written and the lead characters have been allowed to let life and what each brings to the table change both themselves and how they view each other. Parker and Small are a fabulous duo who balance each other out.

The dashing Lynley was originally paired with Havers because it was taken for granted he would not be distracted by her in a romantic way. But the two quickly found there was more to each other than their reputations, and proved a great team. They also...

One More Time...
The BBC and Masterpiece Theater's long running Inspector Lynley series has produced its sixth and possibly last installment. Nathaniel Parker returns as aristocratic Inspector Lynley and Sharon Small as working class Detective Sergeant Havers.

This installment contains two episodes. In the first, "Limbo", Inspector Lynley, still grieving from a personal loss (see Set Five) is dragged into a mystery involving the prior disappearence of his godson. Lynley's efforts to help the family deal with new police evidence ends up enmeshing him in the case as a suspect when the missing boy's sister dies on the street in front of Lynley's temporary residence. Lynley must rely on Sergeant Havers to run down the evidence that will keep him out of jail long enough to solve both cases. Havers herself will be in desperate need of assistance by the time the murderer is identified. The second case,"Know Thine Enemy", involves the murder of a young girl and the potential threat to an...

Ending with a whimper rather than with a bang
I would have reviewed every other series of the Inspector Lynley Mysteries by giving them five stars. I think this one is more disappointing for two reasons; the BBC clearly took an abrupt decision to end the series, and the suddenness of that decision can be felt in the unsatisfactory last scene of the final episode [of the two, I much prefer 'Limbo', despite some plot inconsistencies]. The scriptwriting, especially in the final episode, is poor, and I think the story was based largely on a real crime. Lynley's language and behaviour have changed so totally from previous episodes that he reminds me of an ill-bred thug rather than a well-bred aristocrat. I found myself wondering if the scriptwriter had read the books at all.

I still give it four stars because of the quality of the acting of Nathaniel Parker and Sharon Small. Even given a badly-written script they did a superb job as they have done throughout. Their partnership [both in character and as actors] is one of the...

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