Case Histories

Jason Isaacs plays the damaged hero in this six-part PBS Masterpiece Mystery adaptation based on several of Kate Atkinson's popular novels. Jackson Brodie (Isaacs) is an ex-soldier and former cop who left the force as the result of an unspecified incident. Brooding over the painful memory of his murdered sister, Brodie is now a private investigator in Edinburgh, and although most of the police view him with disdain, he maintains a connection with one former colleague, Louise (Amanda Abbington), with whom he shares a mutually repressed sexual spark. Meanwhile, Brodie tries to retain a strong bond with his young daughter, who's about to move to New Zealand with his ex-wife, Josie (Kirsty Mitchell). The structure here is unusual: the six episodes fall into three two-hour arcs, with Brodie handling a number of cases—some as minor as finding a lost pet but most involving murder investigations (often stretching decades into the past)—that in the end prove to be somehow interrelated. Although the level of coincidence is rather high, the writing is literate, the settings are attractive, and the acting first-rate, with Isaacs radiating smoldering charisma and the others providing stellar support. DVD extras include a “making-of” featurette with Atkinson, Isaacs, and series adapter Ashley Pharoah. Recommended. (F. Swietek)