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Dublin Murders is the most recent foray by Irish TV into a media culture saturated with crime and police drama series. The series is an adaptation of crime novelist Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad book series, and is shown by RTE and BBC. The series opens in a setting of the height of Celtic Ireland, with a confusing cold open of the dissolution of a friendship between two characters. From the get-go it is apparent that death and secrets have torn the pair apart as one character, later revealed to be Cassie (Sarah Greene), says emotionlessly that they will never see each other again. Moving swiftly past this glimpse into the future, the first episode goes back a few months and establishes an easy rapport between two detectives, Cassie Maddox and Rob Reilly (Killian Scott), with subtle references to their obvious close friendship. Reilly hooks his finger through Maddox’s belt loop to hold onto her, in a comical reprieve between shots of them documenting a murder scene, one of several references made throughout as to the longevity of their close friendship. Once establishing the show’s most significant relationship it gets into the crux of the matter – the death of a thirteen year old girl in Knocknaree.

 A sense of ominous gloom hangs over the forest, aided by the cinematic lighting that appears throughout the show, whether in the depths of the prominent forest or underground in the grimy evidence lock-up. This is enhanced by the sense of foreboding created by the knowledge that the property and funding for the contentious motorway (a source of tension between the deceased victim Katy Devlin’s father [Peter McDonald] and the rest of the tight knit community) should soon cease due to the economic bubble collapsing in on itself, as the viewers know those affluent years are coming to a close.

 Initially, it follows the typical stereotypes of a murder investigation, but the fact that the young girl is discovered out in the woods on an ancient altar adds a sense of mystery. The case is eerily reminiscent of that of a group of children that are revealed to have gone missing in the same woods in the 1980s. While undeniably littered with cliches, including a gruff police chief and a scene where a genuine policewomen tucks a loaded gun into her garter stockings (does no one receive gun safety training anymore?) – Dublin Murders is undoubtedly entertaining. A prominent motif of doppelgängers and reprisal runs throughout the show, with actual twins and surprising similarities are seemingly crucial to the plot. Despite this unique aspect of the show, several of the characters appear to be cardboard cutouts of stock characters. This includes a morgue attendant who evokes an uneasy feeling, an overzealous nosy journalist and a nervous young do-gooder police officer.

 This show is a wonderful blend of a gritty crime drama with a heartwarming exploration of friendship. While the leading detective pair reveal their secrets throughout the show, which range from secret identities and alter-egos to imaginary friends with sinister undertones, as someone who has not read the books, some of this felt intelligible at times. There have been several somewhat undeveloped plot points that I feel were rushed in its finale. In the show’s hastiness to wrap up (partly due to the fact that it is based on two books which sends our lead characters down different paths) the finale is overflowing with small details that you may have missed which leads to the climax of the mystery. The upsetting and shocking reveal of what really happened in the ominous woods finally explains the long period of anger, lies and betrayals. Regardless of your opinion on its culmination, it is undoubtedly satisfying to reach the end of the sordid murder of a young girl and discover the guilty parties. The unmasking of the culprit, while somewhat believable, appears slightly forced, the show seemed to choose the least likely person to create maximum shock value. The reveal is certainly a tense and almost claustrophobic scene, and while the story of Katy Devlin (Amy Macken) is laid to rest, the conundrum of the two other missing Knocknaree children remains at the forefront. We are not given a rewarding end to this tale which has been  a prominent feature of the narrative arc so far. The producers could be setting it up for further exploration or perhaps another season by adding a seemingly supernatural element to the mix in the form of wolves, howling wind and a fabled ‘child snatcher’ carved into a buried stone.  

All of its issues aside, the show perfectly encapsulates the frustrating feeling of attempting to remember something that is just out of reach in the recesses of your mind. This is illustrated as we join the troubled Detective Reilly on his journey as he struggles to  deal with the trauma of his past and the hopelessness of his future. Reception has been decidedly mixed for this show based on its intermingled web of storylines and characters which left many viewers decidedly confused. Several other reviews said that the decision to cram two books into the show made for a hurried conclusion and baffling storyline, and that the overall story made for an unbelievable and unsatisfying culmination. This could be in part to abundant use of flashbacks as well as the uncertainty of the conclusion of one of the focal points of the show – the 1985 disappearances, as well as the termination of the relationship between Reilly and Maddox. I think that part of this show’s charm is  its complexity, as I found myself becoming incredibly immersed in its interesting characters, putting my phone away in order to focus on its reveals. Putting its convoluted storyline aside, Dublin Murders is a thoroughly enjoyable and gripping show, giving a cinematic new outlook to a previously familiar city, and it is a gripping addition to the popular genre of crime drama.