I came across a great new crime show from Acorn TV with the mundane title, Art Detectives. But there is nothing mundane about tackling crimes involving Vermeer paintings, 1000-year-old Viking gold, or artifacts brought up from the Titanic.
A ONE-PERSON CRIME UNIT?
Stephen Moyer stars as DI Mick Palmer, the sole staffer of the Heritage Crime Unit in the (fictional) London Metropolitan Police Department. The detective, raised in an art-loving family—his estranged father was a master art forger—travels all over the UK to investigate crimes involving art, antiques, and collectables. Episode one finds him at the countryside estate of an art historian, where a rare painting has been vandalized. The case becomes more ominous when the historian is murdered.
As Palmer tracks down the killer, the local constabulary provides him with the help of a uniformed constable, PC Shazia Malik (Nina Singh). Her help is invaluable, and they work so well together that he offers her a position as his partner. The Heritage Crime Unit has doubled in size with the now plainclothes DC Malik. Their camaraderie going forward is one of the strengths of the series, which at present has an 86% review rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Malik and Palmer work the case.
No word yet on whether Art Detectives has been renewed for additional seasons. But from my perspective, it can’t miss.