Meurtre mode d'emploi

I was really looking forward to this as I loved the book. In general it was a good adaptation, but I don't think the acting was the best. Sadly multiple actors lacked depth and sincerity in their parts. Don't get me wrong, I think there was a lot of good acting (e.g. Cara and Naomi) but the two leads (Pip and Ravi) weren't particularly convincing. Emma's accent also falters often. There were details missed from the book which I suppose is necessary for a series, but the book felt more rich in detail and storyline quality. However, it is bingeworthy as the story is similar to the book, I just think it could have been (much) better.

I've never read the books, but I don't think you need to have prior knowledge of the story to know that this is a terrible adaptation.

The script is poor, rushed, with huge plot holes and an inhuman amount of cliché.

The protagonist Pippa is described in the books as an extremely intelligent and good girl. However, her adaptation does not represent any of these qualities.

She is careless, impulsive and constantly puts herself in illogical and false super dangerous situations unnecessarily.

According to what I read, in the books Pip stands out for having solved the whole case through her investigation together with Ravi, when in the adaptation this never really happens, since almost all the information is obtained through random stories from Mcgoffin characters.

The cast, eh, I don't have much to highlight. Most of them don't even speak and seem like they just came out of acting school.

The plot development is slow and very boring. The ending is incredibly predictable and convenient, and from what I understand it is not faithful to the books.

Starring actress is what saves the show, Emma Myers did a good job overall. It's a short series, if you don't mind spending 6 hours it's okay.

The whole point of the book that made it so famous was that you solve this case alongside Pip, which the series decided not to do, losing the whole point of the story.

Important and interesting scenes from the book were lost and e.g. 5 scenes were merged into 1 with simple dialogue without any connection to the actors.

The information of the murder is thrown away pointlessly without any suspense, since the series starts essentialistically from the end of the book. Unfortunately it didn't come out the way the book deserved.

As for the actors, I don't think they did a bad job, they just had to deal with a bad script that didn't let the audience to get involved enough in actor's lives and get involved in the story.

Maybe it's a good work for those who haven't read the book, but I think for anyone who has read it the differences and missteps were annoying.

An interesting but uneven mystery drama that never quite manages to firmly find its feet. There's lots to enjoy in this series from the lovely shooting locations, the very good lead performances to the actual mystery itself and the almost cold case style investigation which follows. I haven't read the book so can't comment on how accurate it is. The series sometimes starts onto territory that feels familiar and a couple of bits feel slightly shoehorned in, including a I Know What You Did Last Summer style accident.

A certain tall blonde young woman will also appear exactly when our protagonist needs her to in order to help. The friends at times get some development at other times feel superfluous. You start to realise soon all the white men in the series are bad in some often vile and criminal way, ethnic men though are mostly kind hearted and caring, imagine if the BBC did the opposite. It's become almost weakness and trope now you actually start to roll your eyes at. The casting is mostly quite good though one actor playing a pressured 17 years looks not a day over 40. Smart phones get used a lot in the series but usually to advance the plot along. Our main character gets to give lots of self-righteous rants at different point meanwhile her Watson friend somehow seems to be entirely void of anything approaching a realistic life, often just appearing by a lake with his hands in his pockets in order for our protagonist to talk with him, how longs he been stood staring at that tree?

We get a fair bit of drugs in the series, a slightly unsettling list of professions you think you can trust like teachers and policemen who are very much not trustworthy to say the least. Plot holes are simply gigantic, a certain accident involving an animal makes no sense, nor the motives of people really. Some bits are also unclear but for the most part I could follow it. Its all very idealised at times the perfect cottage england homes, the traffic free streets, the dog that never barks or gets too excited, or causes any mess or problems. The parents who exchange witty banter, it's all a bit tv land. I do like a good mystery though, the thing moves along nicely, it's fairly well done technically and so I give it a 6 overall. Despite its slightly funny character overall its not a comedy touching on some interesting themes relevant to young people about racism, parenting, friendship, drugs, consent and intergrity.

It was entertaining enough, but the main character was making a lot of questionable decisions, even for a teenager, so treat the show for what it is going in.

I find that shows that make the main characters very smart and the villains just as smart tend to be way better. They could have definitely figured out other ways to make some scenes suspenseful, without making her flat out simple ( I just know most girls her age would have never put themselves in some of the situations that she did) Also prepare for some silliness. There was absolutely nothing special about this girl when it came to investigation skills, it just so happens that adults just told her everything, things the police couldn't even get from them, she got without any effort.

If you treat this show for what it is ( not a great young adult drama) then you'll enjoy it.