Diversity may be a toxic word in some circles these days, but mysteries continue their quest for variety and novelty in both sleuths and situations. Detectives are alcoholics and depressives; they suffer everything from paralysis to Alzheimers to Tourette's. They have dependent relatives, obstreperous children, difficult partners, and addictions both novel and traditional.
Lately, they have also been on the autism spectrum. Professor T can be enjoyed in either of his Dutch or British incarnations, while the French Astrid, an autistic librarian involved in crime solving, now appears in an English language version as Patience Evans, in Patience (PBS).
In a novel twist, Ella Maisy Purvis, who plays the title character, is herself autistic, and one of the recurring events in this six part series is Patience's meetings with other neurodivergent people in her support group. Although the series has been criticized for a rather stereotypical picture of high functioning autism, Purvis makes Patience a fine performer, charming and effective.
And this cannot have been as easy as it sounds, given that her character is easily overwhelmed by noise, confusion, or congestion. Lacking a sense of humor, she is brutally candid and painfully honest, a difficult person all round, especially since she has a fabulous memory for forensic details – and is not shy about correcting other people's errors. Combine all this with a compulsive work ethic and you do not have an easy colleague.
But her extreme, if awkward, talents make her increasingly valuable to DI Bea Metcalf ( Laura Fraser) a driven, if slightly disorganized York city detective. Soon DI Metcalf is venturing down into the vast, and restricted, documents library and returning not just with useful information but also with Patience, who is master of the domaine in nearly every sense.
Indeed, her lair in the depths of the public safety complex is as distinctive as Sherlock Holmes' cluttered rooms in Baker Street. I suspect the brass has no idea that she converts a number of expensive flat files to hold her constructions of cases, complete with documents and photos. They certainly will have missed the enormous glass fronted cage for her pet mice.
Of course, if a series has a great brain, the plots must be complex, the criminal's MO unusual, the fatal dose, unexpected. Patience, the series, goes all out in this regard, constructing complicated puzzles that may stretch credibility but not the talents of Patience, the character. The solutions she devises are admirable, but the really attractive features of this series lie not in the complicated plots but in something more fundamental: the portrait of a young person venturing out into the world.
In this case, a world she certainly never made. The noted autistic animal husbandry specialist, Temple Grandin, once described her life as being "like an anthropologist on Mars'. Purvis gives a similar sense to Patience's life. Not conventionally brave like the classic detective, her courage comes from her sometimes painful confrontations with daily life. A poignant desire to prove herself useful propels her into situations that frighten and puzzle her but which slowly increase her confidence and her understanding of strange 'normal' people.
If the series sometimes requires a suspension of disbelief, Patience's character, and her efforts to master a world that she finds continually baffling, ring true. Ironically, a series with baffling crimes and a relatively high body count turns out to celebrate the heroism of ordinary life.
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The Falling Men, a novel with strong mystery elements, has been issued as an ebook on Amazon Kindle. Also on kindle: The Complete Madame Selina Stories.
The Man Who Met the Elf Queen, with two other fanciful short stories and 4 illustrations, is available from Apple Books at:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-man-who-met-the-elf-queen/id1072859654?ls=1&mt=11
The Dictator's Double, 3 short mysteries and 4 illustrations is available at:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-dictators-double/id1607321864?ls=1&mt=11
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