Deadly and cozy
This is about my favo(u)rite British murder mysteries
We’re back!
Housekeeping notes: Next Monday, paid subscribers will get this month’s ET Speak Home, a monthly mini-interview.
With that! Onto news, Jews, and views.
NEWS
For the Forward, I wrote about Jewish history and the Trump administration’s attack on the ICC
From Rolling Stone: “These Democrats Want To Reclaim God From the MAGA Movement”
From the BBC: “Thousands have gathered again in the Indian capital Delhi a day after a police crackdown on supporters of India’s Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a youth-led movement seeking education reforms and resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.”
Anna of “End Times Parenting” fame wrote a lovely little thing on summer and smog and having a baby
MY VIEWS ON…
…British murder mystery shows!
I promise that next week I will get back to writing this mini-essay about things like Jews and illiberalism but this week was hectic for reasons big and small and so I am writing something that I have somehow not dedicated a newsletter issue to yet: British murder mysteries.
The short version is that I love, and consider myself an expert in, British murder mysteries. Not as much of an expert as my husband, who introduced me to them. And not all of them, of course. Too dark and I can’t take them; too light and I find them unwatchable. When the lead detective is too brooding, it’s exhausting, but when they’re too plucky, it’s like, we get it, she’s a determined woman. But overall I find them really cozy: in the British murder mystery universe, grisly and terrible things happen, but wrongs are righted and the good guys win in the end while delivering basically impeccable banter. I find this to be such a source of comfort thatI once pitched a New York Times “Letter of Recommendation” that a recommendation to binge British murder mysteries. This was not what the editor was looking for. But in case it’s what you’re looking for, here are some that I love:
Poirot: Obviously I mean the one starring David Suchet. I bought the complete series on DVD. I just think the aesthetics are perfect, the character development sublime, the balance between dark and zany exactly right, and the leitmotif of a Belgian refugee bettering society in a time of rising authoritarianism compelling. One night a few years ago I had a glass of wine and bought the theme song as my ringtone. I mostly leave my phone on silent, but when it’s not…
Vera: This is a very well done show. North England looks both terrible and incredible. And it stars a (grouchy) woman without patting itself on the back for being about a woman.
Midsomer Murders: We actually started with new Barnaby, finished, and then went back to the beginning and watched from the first season. If we hadn’t done that I might have said that the second half of the show just isn’t good compared to the first when actually I think the middle seasons are the best. The very first are a bit too dark for me and the latest are downright zany. If Midsomer were a real place, it would be the deadliest this side of Cabot Cove, Maine, and its killers more creative than anywhere else on Earth. It is probably the coziest of all of these. I thanked Midsomer Murders in the acknowledgments of my first book and have purchased (I think off brand?) Midsomer Murders coasters.
The Inspector Morse universe: Okay so actually I think the sequel/spin off, Inspector Lewis, is a better show (excepting the last season which I think is a bit saccharine), because I think Inspector Lewis is a more compelling lead than Morse, but both are very good. I also bought the complete series of Inspector Lewis and then learned more about Laurence Fox. Oh, well. I think Endeavour, the prequel, is basically a gorgeous/expensive looking missed opportunity. (If you know me from Oxford—it’s set there!)
Dalgliesh: This show is good! The lead, a policeman poet, is great! They should make more than three seasons!
Mrs Sidhu Investigates Okay this skews a bit goofy for me but she’s really quite compelling and her relationship with the professional detective who is both annoyed and charmed by the caterer/crime solver is fun.
Unforgotten: We never actually finished this because (SPOILER) Neil found out what happens to the lead and was too upset about it to continue but before that this show about detectives solving one cold case a season was very good. It oscillates between detectives and interconnected suspects in a way I thought was pretty unique.
I also want to say that I finished drafting this about 30 seconds before it was revealed that a Jeopardy column last night was “British murder shows.” It’s in the air! Go watch! Ask me follow ups! Tell me your favorites! Insert your favorite British crime show sign-off here!
…AND SOME STUFF ABOUT JEWS
From the AP: “The Associated Press surveyed more than 1,000 Jewish adults in the U.S. to better understand their views on Israel’s actions in Gaza, their opinions of the political parties and their experiences with prejudice in the United States. The survey of 1,022 Jewish adults — including people who identify as Jewish by religion and religiously unaffiliated people who identify as Jewish through culture, ethnicity or family background — offers a rare detailed accounting of a key demographic that sits at the very center of some of the nation’s most divisive political debates.”
From Haaretz: “At a fundraiser for A Place for Us All, Portman praised the new Jewish-Arab slate as ‘one of the most courageous and exciting developments in Israel-Palestine in recent years,’ adding that the establishment is ‘terrified of what this movement represents’”
From CNN: “With elections looming in October, Israel’s right wing is turning the push to rebuild Jewish settlements in Gaza into a central issue of their campaign.”
I thought this, also from CNN, was a good introduction to Gadi Eisenkot, the man emerging as Netanyahu’s challenger, and the prime minister’s response to him
From Josh Lambert’s Substack “More Life”: “I’m not happy about it, but I wrote about PEN.”
From Jewish Currents: “The MAGA journalist wants to bring respectability to ‘America First’ opposition to Israel. Just don’t ask him about the Groypers at his heels.”
From Jewish Insider: “AIPAC ends fundraising for endorsees who voted to cut off Israel aid”
Look alive, my fellow Documensch fans: “America: Always a Little Jewish: Conversation with Gemma R. Birnbaum, AJHS executive director”
From the Forward: “Jewish villains out to destroy Jesus are a staple of Ukrainian Catholic church pageants in the U.S. The Vatican has remained silent.”
Finally, Arno Rosenfeld, one of the best writers and reporters on antisemitism, full stop, is leaving the Forward for Haaretz and so won’t be penning their “Antisemitism Decoded” anymore, so you should read his swan song and take it as seriously as he takes the various points of view described in it: “A fortress won’t save American Jews”
-ET