Search - The Inspector Lynley Mysteries: Set 5 on DVD

Diane W. (Nanadi) from RIVER FALLS, WI
Reviewed on 7/21/2012...

I really loved this set in the series..had been waiting for it for a long time. I would recommend it to anyone who like British genre!

Still Entertaining, but My, How Havers Has Changed.

mirasreviews | McLean, VA USA | 10/16/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This fifth series of the Inspector Lynley Mysteries (PBS calls it Series 6) continues with stories written for television, not based on Elizabeth George's novels. This series conclusion allows the television series to align with the books somewhat, so that future episodes could once again be based on books, if Elizabeth George and the show's producers were so inclined. The first episode picks up after last year's cliffhanger, with Detective Inspector Lynley (Nathaniel Parker) on suspension and separated from his wife Helen. Helen is a presence this season, however, and is now played by Catherine Russell. I don' t know why Helen should be difficult, but this bit of casting is worse than the last.

Lynley and Detective Sergeant Havers (Sharon Small) look conspicuously unlike previous seasons. Lynley looks a bit greasy, older, and worn in a new, longer hairstyle that was wisely trimmed after one episode. Sharon Small is sporting long, flowing locks of lovely red hair and a fairly fashionable wardrobe. Sharon Small was always the most attractive woman in the series. Now she isn't hiding it. But this eliminates the contrast that made Lynley and Havers an odd couple. If they're both handsome and content, neither are interesting. Lafferty (Paul Hickey), the forensic pathologist who was introduced last season, is still around. And a new character, DC Winston Nkata (Shaun Parkes), does a lot of spade work. Episodes are each 85 minutes long, on 4 separate discs.

"Natural Causes" finds DS Havers adapting to yet another new boss and partner as Inspector Lynley awaits the hearing that will hopefully reinstate him to active duty. Blunt, pushy, and pregnant DI Fiona Knight (Liza Tarbuck) and Havers investigate when Edie Covington (Mary Stockley) drowns, her car apparently pushed into a lake, after she and her lover argue in the Kent countryside. Friction develops between Knight and Havers when Knight insists that the culprit must be Edie's estranged partner, while Havers wants to pursue Edie's opposition to a lucrative real estate development as a possible motive. Lynley finds it difficult to sit idly by and insinuates himself into the case, at first doing research, then much deeper.

"One Guilty Deed" takes the detectives to a working class seaside resort town where Havers vacationed as a child. DI Lynley and DS Havers are frustrated when Roger Pollard (David Hepple), their key witness against London organized crime boss Michael Shand (Tom Gerogeson), is murdered on a beach in Essex. Havers gleefully arranges accommodations in a trailer park that brings back childhood memories while they investigate the murder. Pollard was from the town but left 25 years ago under shady circumstances. Something compelled him to return, placing his life in danger, to see old friends Danny Gill (Stuart Laing), now a successful entrepreneur, and Carly Baker (Esther Hall), who manages the trailer park. This mystery feels particularly contrived and sensational.

"Chinese Walls" brings us back to London, where Emily Proctor (Isabella Calthorpe) is found stabbed to death in Hyde Park. Emily had worked for prominent civil rights lawyer Tony Wainwright (Samuel West), whom she had enthusiastically admired since her teens, until leaving his employ a few months before under murky circumstances. Since then, she worked for her half-sister Lisa Conroy's (Georgia McKenzie) internet business, where she had picked up an unwelcome admirer. Family secrets, Emily's relationship with Wainwright, and her unseemly admirer provide an abundance of suspects. This mystery offers twists, turns, and improbable circumstances without going over the top, making it the best of this series.

A press photographer called Peter Rooker (Richard Copestake) is found shot to death in a London alleyway in "In the Blink of an Eye". He was having an affair with the wife of powerful and controlling newspaper owner Eddie Price (Danny Webb). But the trail of suspects also leads to Peter's dangerous and daring past. Nina Delic (Ania Sowinski), a woman whom he had rescued as a girl from war-torn Bosnia, was found hiding in his apartment. Now she is on the run from unknown enemies, out of Lynley and Havers' reach. This mystery is mercifully less melodramatic than the first 2 of this series, but the list of suspects is too short and the mystery too straightforward to be entirely satisfying."

THEY ARE BACK FOR ANOTHER FINE SEASON

GEORGE RANNIE | DENVER, COLORADO United States | 10/08/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"How very nice it is to have another season of "Inspector Lynley". As I have indicated in my previous reviews to seasons 1-4 of this series, I'm very besotted with this Murder/Mystery series along with its leading characters of Detective Inspector Lynley as played by Nathaniel Parker and with especially Detective Sergeant Havers, as played superbly by Sharon Small. They are at the "top of their forms" in season five (5). The "cliff hanger" of Season four (4) is, of course, resolved with Lynley being reinstated (not a surprise) and he and Havers are reunited to solve more dastardly murders which they do so very well. Lynley is also reunited shortly with that wife of his who is a little less dreary than in previous episodes mainly because a "new" actress is playing the role.

Season five (5) (on four (4) discs running about 86 minutes each with one episode per disc) is really very good with scripts that are very well written and directed. The stories kept me highly entertained from their beginnings to their ends. I was always unable to solve the mystery in my mind until "all was revealed".

Be advised that the murder/mysteries in Season 5 are very involved and do require much attention to details; the viewing audience is not "spoon-fed" clues, suspects, etc. In other words, this season offers some really good mysteries!
"

I Love this series, but can't they spring for closed caption

Alex Thomas | 10/07/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I love this series. I have all previous 4 sets (they are all closed captioned). This set however is not closed captioned. The stories are great as always. The only negative thing I have to say is: come on add those closed captions for those of us who have difficulty hearing."