Rizzoli & Isles: The Complete Fourth Season

TNT's popular pair of distaff crime-fighters—blue-collar Boston homicide detective Jane Rizzoli (Angie Harmon) and smart but awkward medical examiner Maura Isles (Sasha Alexander)—return with their successful formula intact, combining urgent cases with equally pressing personal crises. The whodunits start with the sniper killing of a state senator during a community parade and conclude with the murder of a U.S. senator's daughter. These mysteries are mostly satisfying, although one episode in which Maura becomes a suspect when her date dies mysteriously—after she has blacked out—distinctly feels been-there-seen-that. Outside the precinct house, Maura must cope as best she can with family members who have gangster connections, while Jane has to confront the return of an old flame. The next season will need to explain the disappearance of one of the show's regular characters, since Lee Thompson Young, the actor portraying Detective Barry Frost, committed suicide towards the end of filming. Compiling all 16 episodes from the 2013–14 fourth season, extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes. Although Rizzoli & Isles doesn't quite measure up to the best TV crime dramas, it's a solid show that has settled into a dependable groove. Recommended. (F. Swietek)