User reviews

Airing on BBC One in the UK and Ireland and Starz in North America, Dublin Murders is an eight-part series that adapts the first two novels in Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad series - In the Woods (2007) and The Likeness (2008). And herein lies the show's biggest problem. French's series is pseudo-anthological in design; each novel has a different protagonist, and although there are common characters across all of the stories, each plot is wholly self-contained. In writing Dublin Murders, Sarah Phelps has made the strange decision to present the plots of the first two novels as happening concurrently, with each case bleeding slightly into the other. This doesn't even remotely work, with the events of The Likeness never feeling like anything other than a half-baked B-plot that serves only to detract from the far superior material in the A-plot. It's a maddening decision, as In the Woods could have made a superb five or six-part series, but instead, we've got an over-long eight-parter with a ton of what feels like completely extraneous fat. Nevertheless, there is much to laud here; the acting, the cinematography, production design, and art direction, the editing and directing, and, when focusing on the first novel, much of Phelps' writing, which admirably captures the thematic and tonal essence of French's 500-page interiorised narrative.

The show takes place in 2006 and begins with the discovery of the body of twelve-year-old Katy Devlin (Amy Macken) in the woods around Knocknaree, a (fictional) housing estate in Dublin's suburbs. Detectives Rob Reilly (Killian Scott) and Cassie Maddox (Sarah Greene) of the (fictional) Dublin Murder Squad (DMS) are assigned to the case, which has attracted a great deal of attention, as twenty-two years earlier three young children disappeared in the same woods. One of those children was found a few hours after they disappeared, and although he was uninjured, his shirt was ripped as if by claws, and his shoes were filled with someone else's blood. He swears, however, that he has no memory of what happened in the woods. That child, Adam, left Ireland with his parents and as far as anyone knows, never returned. However, Rob is in fact adult Adam, having secretly returned to Ireland with a new identity, after years spent in England, a fact known only to Cassie, and he plans to use the Devlin investigation as a means to delve into the 1985 case. Meanwhile, Cassie is approached by her old boss, senior investigator Frank Mackey (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor), with an intriguing undercover operation made necessary by a very unusual murder.

Aesthetically, the show has a lot going for it. To a certain extent, it successfully mixes genres - there's the obvious whodunnit, but there's also a pseudo-Chinatown (1974) motif of greed, conspiracy, and corruption, and a vaguely supernatural, otherworldly undercurrent, not unlike Twin Peaks (1990). In terms of narrative structure, although the 2006-set events are presented chronologically, the show makes ample use of flashbacks, which jump around quite a bit in the timeline. That this never becomes confusing or arbitrary is a testament to the editing, which always ensures to establish the link between the show's present and the moments to which the characters are flashing back. The one major deviation from this is that the opening scene in the first episode takes place right at the end of the story, but it's a wholly justified way to begin, succinctly establishing the tone, and introducing us to much of the psychological conflict within Rob.

The cinematography is also worth mentioning, working hand-in-hand with the production design to suggest that things just aren't quite right in Knocknaree in general, and the Devlin home in specific. The world genuinely feels lived in, and the people who live here all have their quirks. It's hard to put your finger on, but the visuals do a great job of keeping the tone slightly off-kilter, sometimes suggesting that this character knows more than they're letting on, sometimes suggesting that another character does. There are also some lovely subtle details, such as the ladybird crawling across Katy's face, and the reveal that her body has attracted a colony of ants. The acting too is impressive. Scott and Greene have tremendous chemistry, which is pivotal, and although both are initially presented as likeable, if damaged, individuals, as the show goes on, both actors allow us to see a much darker side to their personas, with each turning on the people closest to them in a particularly vicious manner. Also worthy of praise are an exceptional Leah McNamara as Katy's older sister, the ever-reliable Moe Dunford as Cassie's boyfriend, Conleth Hill as the unapologetic acerbic and un-PC head of the DMS; and Peter McDonald as Katy's father, about whom something just doesn't feel right.

Thematically, much like In the Woods, the show isn't so much focused on the Devlin murder as it is the nature of lingering trauma. Virtually every character is damaged in some way, but none more so than Rob, who, to a certain extent, never really made it out of the woods in 1985. This is evidenced perfectly by the fact that he uses the Devlin murder as a cover to delve into the disappearance of his friends. The show begins with Rob asking Cassie, "what if the killed are the lucky ones?" And this is a central theme throughout - what if it's those who are murdered who could be considered free, and those who survive that are forever trapped within their trauma?

All of which brings us to the show's fatal flaw. Notice above how almost everything I've said relates to the Devlin case/In the Woods rather than the undercover operation/The Likeness? That's because the undercover investigation does little but detract and distract from the far more interesting and compelling murder inquiry. Phelps is unable to mould the two plots to coalesce properly, with the characters in Cassie's case never being developed to even half the degree of those in Rob's. Every time we cut to the undercover case, all I wanted to do was get back to the murder case. This is particularly apparent when we get to the big reveal at the end of the undercover case and it just kind of limply sits there. It's about as "meh" as you could imagine, and it's because we've never gotten to know these people or their relationships with one another, as the whole thing never feels like anything other than an afterthought. Splitting the show's real estate does neither plot any favours - in the novels, each case works by immersing us in the interiority of the protagonist, as the plot unfolds in a manner coloured by that character's subjectivity. Continually cutting away from one plot to show us the other completely breaks that immersion, and seems to imply an inherent connection between the two plots that simply doesn't exist.

Nevertheless, although this might sound very negative, I did enjoy the show for the most part. It's well-acted, looks great, and in relation to the murder case, is very well written. A shorter run focusing on just that case would have been infinitely preferable, but that's not what we got. It's absolutely worth checking out, but be prepared to be frustrated once the undercover operation starts taking up so much time.

I just finished binge watching this. It starts off slow as the story unravels its characters. It seems like a pretty simple whodunnit, but its not. The characters are flawed and have dark pasts which interweave beautifully with the main plot and just when you think you have it all worked out.... another bread crumb appears and like Hansel and Gretel you cant help yourself... You follow. I wont give anything away, but i hope they do a season 2... Special appearance by one of my favourite Game of Thrones characters and the acting is superb

To the person who reviewed this and didn't even watch it. You base your review on the plot description, you people are ruining IMBd for everyone else. Please don't review titles if you have not even watched it. Good start to this show.

This show has been very up and down by pretty much every metric. The pace seems to speed up and slow down, with long stretches of very little happening but then new developments frantically thrown into the mix. I understand the producers crammed two books into one series which accounts for the weird pacing, and two investigations happening (which gets confusing and they bog each other down). The script also had some well-written funny moments, but then the very next scene will feature horrible dialogue. Hard to blame the actors, who do a good job in the main, but a lot of their emotions seem turned up to 11 all the time, which is exhausting and not hugely realistic. The characters' behaviour is downright bizarre at times. Coppers lose their rag constantly and seem to have no idea how to run an investigation that is remotely effective or follows any kind of professional standards. The plotting is also all over the place and requires some pretty major suspension of disbelief over daft left turns and enormous coincidences. All that said, I find myself needing to watch the final episode to see if they can wrap it all up in a way that isn't either a total cop-out or just a daft resolution that comes out of left field.

I really do not understand the negative reviews here. I may be a little biased as I am a Tana French fan and find her books some of the best crime novels around at the moment. However, I am not a Sarah Phelps fan after the mess she made of the Javier Falcon novels when she adapted those for TV. In this case, though, she seems to be on to something. The books are slow burners with a psychological tinge that eats into the dialogue and sets up the characters and their relationships. The relationship between Rob and Cassie is rendered pretty well. They have also included a couple of things that are not in the book that seem to work well. Frank stalking Cassie is a logical way to link to the next instalment and a great way to introduce a wonderful character. Well, two episodes in and it all looks good to me. For those that are looking for a standard police thriller kind of thing, don't bother. It was not written that way and the TV show looks pretty close to the book, so far. For those that like twisted, heart-wrenching, psychological drama, stay with it. I can already see that this is going to stay pretty close to what the author intended.

Irish folklore: check Whodunnit: check Complex characters: check Twisty romance: check Cop banter: check Awesome accents: double check

This was really good, watch it - don't listen to the negative reviews.

It's a very complex, multi layered mystery, there are lots of strands, and lots of jumping back in forth in time, so don't think you can watch this and fiddle with your phone, you have to concentrate as you could easily lose it.

It isn't going to be for everyone, because it is dark, it's bleak, and does contain some very tough to watch scenes. It has been criticised for being ambiguous, but I would argue that all loose ends are tied up, the last scene provides a lot of answers.

The only real dip comes in Part 6, the only episode I didn't like, the best, the following episode, as so often, it's the penultimate episode that I enjoyed most of all.

Terrific acting, Sarah Greene and Killian Scott are both incredible, they are well supported by a great cast.

I'm someone that always loves a continuation of a series, but in this instance I'd be disappointed if they brought it back, this needs to be left alone. Gripping, 8/10

I have watched over 30 Such Shows. They all share common things apart from murder and mystery. This was no different with vulnerable cops with a past and ties to murder investigation. Starts off as a regular who killed the Girl found in the woods. Then after 1st Episode just drags on. Past, Demons inside Head, etc. There are some really good moments in between but something seems off. Show really redeems itself in last 2 Episodes. To an extent that there is a Shock value and disbelief coupled by some really great acting. Good editing could have made it a more compact 6 Episodes. Its the last 2 hours that make the show worth watching. Production Values are good. Acting is top notch. The Police Chief(Varys from GoT) is excellent. There's tonnes of Irish-English banter and some cracking one-liners. The atmosphere is mostly dark. The leads pull off a good performance but the lady cop character is bit off a let down. Apart from that Show is worth watching if you know how to skip meaningless content in between

If I hadn't recently read both books I think this would have been even more confusing. This series takes liberal adaptations in order to shoehorn both stories concurrently into one series. There is a nice symmetry between the storylines, of abandoned children and the aftermath. And loss.

I'm a big fan of Tana French, especially "The Likeness" so I'll focus on that story line; I enjoyed seeing how others envision the characters, and above all, that manor house of Whitethorn. The novel lets you worm your way into Lexie's head and it's seductive. However, film gives us those atmospheric images of Ireland: lush green, dark and sinister woods, and that manor house. The dialog, the Irish slang and accents are terrifiic; fast, sharp, and wickedly smart.

Read the books, especially "The Likeness."

A good story with a good cast, but, why does it have to be so slow? Have watched 6 episode's now and still we keep seeing the same cut backs and are struggling to advance, please don't spoil something for the same of making it longer.

First episode in and what a start. This has all the makings of a IMDB top 250 show. For realists only, this series may require some viewer patience while the complexities of the plot and the characters are developed. One of a kind...so far.

I eagerly look forward to more of this ambitious, entertaining series.

9/10

There are a lot of different elements to Dublin Murders, from the mystical to issues of identity.

Identity is explored within (crazy) families, between twins and their siblings, and with regard to survivors as a result of traumatic experience. Cassie and Rob share troubled childhoods and a lifelong search for acceptance that spearheads the theme. With these people never escape grief, and the detectives find in each other kindred souls and understanding they've craved but never found with anyone else. All in all worth it seeing.

Great show that falls apart with flat anti-climatic ending. Acting was superb throughout.

Dublin Murders is not that dissimilar to True Detective season 3. Both are about missing children where one child survives. I haven't seen TD through to the end so I can't be definitive about the similarities, but I certainly found watching both to be a very rewarding experience (True Detective is HBO). True Detective is slower. I didn't find Dublin Murders slow at all, and wondered why a lead reviewer here at IMDb would claim that. The pace is awesome, and always interesting. Both series rely on flashbacks, but in TD it is more about the detectives, whereas in DM it is more about the children, though the detectives certainly have a large share of the flashbacks. I suspect both series throw a large number of red herrings about, certainly DM does. Don't let that dissuade you though, Dublin Murders is very clever writing indeed, in fact, I haven't seen anything quite like it. What I liked about both series is that despite both being believers in the modern trend that detectives' lives are more interesting and important than the actual victims (so irritating!!), in both shows these lives are genuinely interesting rather than cliched in terms of marriages, secrets and past trauma. The lead man in DM is a clever character study. You'll love him, then hate him, then find sympathy again. The lead woman is one of the strongest depictions of a strong woman I've yet seen, and a credit to a portrait of Irish femininity. In terms of the pace, one might note that DM is about three crimes, and all are riveting and tension-generating mysteries. Great performances, great casting, great writing, great production. Definitely not slow!!!

Like some of the other reviewers, I am surprised at the very negative reviews which don't seem to match the programme I watched unless people were so busy multi screening on youtube and answering their emails that they missed half the show as didn't seem to have any more characters than any other modern crime show. Visually stunning, great acting and interesting sharp writing.

This was all over the place, very hard to stay engaged and follow as the characters seemed under developed or over developed on things no one cared about, maybe due to being kind of limited. I was kind of disappointed, I will say that the casting is pretty good.

Well shot and well acted. Great to see a decent Irish drama on tv for a change.

This gets you hooked from the first episode. I just wish it was released as a whole as I hate waiting for each episode. One of the best shows on tv in a long time. Brilliant cast. Killian Scott has been in a few shows I've seen and he is fantastic in this as well. Hope there's more than one season.

While started to watch this series i have a feeling this will be great.

A good start but it became apparent that this was really two unconnected plots shoehorned together. I note from the credits it was based on two books and this seemed to come through quite clearly in the TV adaptation. In the end the show dabbled with some supernatural elements but never had the courage to develop them or the writing to develop plot points that otherwise stretched all credulity. The suspension of disbelief was overcome by a sense of annoyance & the ending was an unsatisfactory cop out with both plot lines left with significant gaps. It was atmospheric & technically well put together but ultimately the writing wasn't strong enough. There were also far too many flashbacks which became intrusive & seemed like unnecessary padding.