Détective Surprenant : la fille aux yeux de pierre

This six part French Canadian series opens with the discovery of the body of a young woman on a beach on the Magdalen Islands. Sergeant Detective André Surprenant starts investigating but is informed that detectives from Quebec City will be taking over; the officer in charge being a man Surprenant has had disagreements with in the past. As well as following the investigations we see various flashback to the events leading up to the murder. Inevitably secrets are revealed; these involve a local fisherman/drug smuggler and a college lecturer involved in an inappropriate relationship with the victim amongst others.

I thought this was a gripping series. The plot may be fairly typical of the genre; this isn't a negative though. A good whodunit requires varied suspects and motives and personal problems for the protagonist give him character and raise tensions. The location is great; the island has a rugged beauty and having the drama set in a small, fairly closed, community means the crime effects everybody to a degree. The cast does a solid job bringing their characters to life. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of subtitled crime drama or of island set series like 'Shetland'.

These comments are based on watching the series in French with English subtitles.