Bestselling author P.D. James' wonderful titular mystery novel served as the inspiration for this above-average British miniseries, which aired stateside on PBS' Mystery!, hosted by Dame Diana Rigg. After the sudden suicide of her mentor, newly-minted private eye Cordelia Gray (Helen Baxendale) winds up as sole proprietor of the Pryde Detective Agency, a role that taxes her still-limited knowledge of the profession. Both the first and second “series” of An Unsuitable Job for a Woman are compiled here, amounting to four feature-length episodes aired between 1997-2001. All four are very nearly equal in quality, although the best may be “A Last Embrace,” in which Cordelia is approached by a distraught wife looking to collect evidence against a philandering husband who may be guilty of much more than infidelity. Baxendale is letter-perfect as the plucky but insecure Cordelia, who always fears that she's getting in over her head, yet always comes out on top. While contemporary in both tone and setting, the Cordelia Gray mysteries still manage to capture the essence of classic whodunits in the vein of the venerable Dame Agatha Christie. Highly recommended. (E. Hulse)
An Unsuitable Job for a Woman: Series 1 & 2
WGBH, 4 discs, 525 min., not rated, DVD: $49.95 Volume 23, Issue 2
An Unsuitable Job for a Woman: Series 1 & 2
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