The Ties That Bind

I guess people just didn't have the time or the money to shave those bad boys off their faces back in the day. Those things are bold!

Mr. Whicher sure does get kicked around a lot, and by such despicable people, too.

I simply can't find a flaw. I believe the music is some of the best I have EVER heard. Kudos to Mr. Edmund Butt for his masterful and intensely soulful compositions.

I am so happy to have stumbled onto these on Primo. Thank you Amazon!

I know its weird but I can tell pretty much right away if I am going to like something or not, and lately I have been dialing out of more things than ever.

But for some reason this caught my attention and the lead actor (who is in nearly every scene of every one of these movies) is simply fabulous.

All four movies are good mysteries and do not shirk from showing how flawed our protagonist is. But while flawed, he is endearing (mostly).

Beyond the good acting and the decent stories, it looks to me like these are made really well and especially in the final movie (The Ties that Bind) there are some beautiful shots.

Anyway, all this just to say give them a go and do watch them in the correct order. It is important for the development of the main character.

I wish they would make more of them but I guess this is it.

Finally, there's a happy ending. Hooray! I do love a happy ending.

Mr Whicher has taken a divorce case for landowner Sir Henry Coverley in Wilshire. He believes that his wife Jane is cheating on her with another man Matthew Thorogood in London.

Whicher gets the evidence but before the divorce case reaches trial, Thorogood is found dead.

The main suspect turns out to be the brother of a pregnant woman carrying Thorogood's child.

Whicher also learns that Thorogood was not his real surname. He was the son of a clergyman and deep in gambling debts.

In order to clear the brother, Whicher sticks around and comes across more suspects.

A complex layered mystery becomes rather absorbing. This is the most successful of the Whicher mysteries, even though only the first one was based on true facts.

There are some pointed comments about the role of educated married women in society. The lengths they had to go through to initiate a divorce.