‘Queens of Mystery’ Is Like ‘Murder, She Wrote’ Meets ‘Pushing Daisies’

John Griffiths April 8, 2019, 1:30 pm

So you’ve already binged Murder, She Wrote? Pour a cup of tea and settle in with this delightful British mystery series, which has the colorful quirkiness of cult hit Pushing Daisies and a splash of cheekiness à la Absolutely Fabulous.

Rising star Olivia Vinall plays Matilda Stone, a straight-arrow police detective who, at age 28, returns to her quaint hometown of Wildemarsh to start a new post — and hopefully find out why her mother vanished when Mattie was just 3 years old.

Time to Play the Whodunit Game — 'Murder, She Wrote' Is on Amazon Prime Video!

Also on the case are the aunts who helped raise her: warm, observant Beth (Sarah Woodward), forensics nerd Jane (Siobhan Redmond) and Cat (Julie Graham), a sneaky former punk rocker who loves leopard print. Oh, and each auntie just happens to be a successful crime novelist with some serious meddling tendencies.

“Mattie really needs her aunts, but she [talks] back to them quite often,” says Vinall. “She’ll say, ‘Step aside — this is my work!'”

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In the first of six episodes, the pro’s fortitude is tested as she investigates the murder of a crime novelist during a writers’ festival at a gorgeous estate. She also develops feelings for Daniel (Andrew Leung), a socially awkward doctor.

But can romance bloom amid Matilda’s dour quest and what Graham calls Wildemarsh’s “high body count”? It can if those aunts, who set her up on blind dates, have their way. “We want the best for Mattie. I’d say she’s the sun and we kind of orbit around her,” cracks Graham. “I’m Uranus. Ha!”