Mark Gatiss is brilliant in this series - just don't call it cosy crime
Max
Many a fictional detective has an extracurricular talent that feeds into their work; Sherlock Holmes and his violin; Inspector Morse and his crossword skills; Columbo's fluency in several languages.
In Mark Gatiss' new crime series Bookish, the co-creator and co-writer of Sherlock stars as Gabriel Book, for whom the detective work is the extracurricular talent.
Book is an eccentric antiquarian bookshop owner who is also adept at solving mysteries. He draws on his encyclopaedic literary knowledge to help figure out motives, methods and the psychology behind all manner of crimes.
Book regularly helps out the local police, led by the affable Inspector Bliss (Elliot Levey), and if anybody queries his involvement, he tells them he 'has a letter from Churchill'. (A bit like Doctor Who's psychic paper, the mere mention of it seems to satisfy anybody who asks).
Bookish is set in London in 1946, a less common setting for period drama; Gatiss, a long-time detective fan (as well as Sherlock he has adapted several of Agatha Christie's Poirot stories for British TV, and starred in the series Marple), has said it's a favourite time period of his, given the state of the world: women suddenly empowered (although expected to return to their kitchens), lots of weapons brought back by soldiers, a radical government, and a sense of hope. But no shortage of criminal activity.
We first meet Book when a young man, Jack (Connor Finch), freshly released from prison, shows up for a job he's been given at the bookshop. Jack moves in with Book and his wife Trottie (Bridgerton 's Polly Walker), who runs a specialty wallpaper shop next door to the bookshop. Gabriel and Trottie seem very much in love – but they have a secret: theirs is a 'lavender marriage', the term given to a marriage where one or both parties are gay, when such a thing is illegal. The pair have long been best friends, having met as children, and Trottie is aware of Book's 'proclivities', which must be kept secret. Especially from the police he spends so much time with.
Jack is initially daunted by both Book and his books (all of which are 'catalogued' in a manner as oddball as the man himself), and understandably baffled that the local coppers defer to Book on criminal matters. But he soon comes around – and learns that he hasn't been taken in by the couple by coincidence.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News AU
6 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Expat exposes the one major difference between supermarkets in Australia and the UK that makes Aussies 'spend more' at the register
An expat has identified one major difference between supermarkets in Australia and those in the UK that makes shoppers Down Under "spend more". Gemma Penn recently took to TikTok to point out supermarkets Down Under always have "banging music, whether it's Coles or Woolworths." In a video taken while shopping, she expressed surprise at having heard British singer Jamelia and the Spice Girls while browsing the store aisles. For most Australians, dance music is just background noise that people have become accustomed to hearing while doing their grocery shopping. However, Gemma, who is still getting used to the novelty, said the pop anthems and dance tracks are "for sure" making her spend more money. One viewer took to the comments to say the tunes, like pop musician Endor's 'Pump It Up', which Woolies plays every day at 3 pm, are merely a "subtle mind game" to make shoppers reach deeper into their pockets. Deakin University's Professor of Consumer Behaviour and Marketing, Paul Harrison, weighed in on whether music really does influence spending. "At a basic level, what we know is that faster music means that people move through shops faster," Mr Harrison told Yahoo Lifestyle. "The one thing that they have found is that more upbeat music does get people to spend more on premium items. "So, an example might be, if you're in a supermarket and you hear sophisticated music, you're more likely to be drawn towards buying the more sophisticated version of a brand." Mr Harrison referenced research from one of his students a couple of years ago, which found there is an ideal "Goldilocks moment" in-store. He said retailers want people in and out within "about 20 minutes", and the faster music helps achieve that magic target, in which people spend more dollars per minute than if they were to stay for 30, 40 or 50 minutes. Mr Harrison said the 20-minute time frame doesn't, however, actually push people to stretch their budget beyond capacity. Rather, it encourages people to buy items within their means that they may have been otherwise resistant to add to the cart. It comes as an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission inquiry into the Australian grocery sector in March found Coles and Woolworths are among the most profitable supermarket businesses in the world. The inquiry found supermarket giants are using promotions to make it harder for customers to judge whether they are getting a good deal, and Coles and Woolworths' dominance of the sector seems set to continue. Woolworths and IGA meanwhile emerged as the two most expensive supermarkets to shop from, while grocery prices have slightly dropped at Coles, a survey by consumer advocacy group CHOICE revealed. has contacted Coles and Woolworths for comment.
Sky News AU
6 hours ago
- Sky News AU
London 'reconciliatory' meeting between King Charles and Prince Harry aides sidestep Duke's far more bitter row with brother William
The first sign of peace between the ailing, ageing King Charles III and his errant, estranged and exiled second son Prince Harry has been initiated in the shape of a secret meeting at a private London club. The Mail on Sunday tabloid newspaper reported that the hush hush meeting took place on Wednesday at the Royal Overseas League club, an exclusive establishment patronised by high society Brits. Present at the pow-wow were Tobyn Andrae, the Eton-educated communications secretary for the King, and Meredith Maines, who performs the same task for Harry. Also at the talks was Liam Maguire, who looks after press matters in the UK for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. There was no word on who initiated the meeting, but a royal source said that it was the first hesitant step to resolve the rancorous row between father and son. Significantly, King Charles is patron of the Over-Seas League, whose goal is to foster international peace and understanding and Mr Andrae is a former editor from the Daily Mail that broke the story. The news outlet is also one of the tabloid targets of legal action that Harry has taken against the British Press for allegedly hacking his phone. The Over-Seas club is located a few minutes' stroll away from Clarence House, the monarch's London home in Westminster. The source told The Mail: 'There is a long road ahead, but at least a channel of communications has opened'. Relations between the 76-year-old sovereign and Harry and his wife have been in the deep freeze since the couple gave an interview to US TV Queen Oprah Winfrey at their California home in 2021 - in which the Royal Family were accused of racism directed at Meghan, a former American soap star. Harry later deepened the feud in 2023 with the publication of his bestselling autobiography 'Spare' in which more embarrassing accusations were hurled against the rest of the Royals, including an account of a physical fight with Harry's elder brother Prince William, heir to the British throne, and an admission that Harry took various illegal drugs in his youth and had therapy for his psychological problems. A possible spur to the peace process was the diagnosis last year that Charles was suffering from cancer, a condition for which he is still receiving treatment. Harry has only had one meeting with his father since news of the king's illness broke. The gulf between the king and his son has caused deep distress to Charles, who has often privately expressed his desire to see an end their estrangement. A very different stance has been taken by William, who has publicly refuted Harry's accusation that the royals are racists. William is known to be furious at the hostility shown by the Sussexes to his wife Kate, the popular Princess of Wales, who is also recovering from cancer. So even if last week's meeting does lead to a reconciliation between the King and his son, the far more bitter row between the royal brothers is on a wholly deeper level. Harry and his wife - who most observers agree are the chief cause of the feud with their selfish and reckless behaviour - will have to eat many banquets of humble pie if a genuine peace is to be restored within the Royal Family. Nigel Jones is a historian and journalist whose work has been featured in major British publications including The Guardian, The Daily Mail and The Spectator. His previous positions include Deputy Editor of History Today and the Reviews Editor of the BBC History magazines
7NEWS
12 hours ago
- 7NEWS
JENI O'DOWD: AI boyfriends, OnlyFans and 1000 hookups a year — Welcome to the era of performative intimacy
Remember Bonnie Blue? The British sex worker who flew into Australia to 'party' with teenage boys at Schoolies until her visa was cancelled? Her latest stunt got cancelled as well, a planned 24-hour bondage 'petting zoo' inside a glass box in London. The public backlash got there first. And she's been booted off OnlyFans for good. So what's next for a woman who built a brand on provocation? Probably a livestream. Possibly a meltdown. Because this isn't about female empowerment, it's about escalation. Porn as performance. Intimacy as spectacle. And it's what happens when we replace love with clicks and intimacy with metrics. How far will people go for attention? Just ask Annie Knight, the Australian creator who recently claimed to have slept with 1000 men in a year. One of those stunts involved 583 men in a single day. She ended up in the hospital. But the headlines kept coming, which I guess was the goal. But we are not just selling sex. We're now selling simulated closeness. Emotional proximity for the price of a monthly app. And it doesn't stop with porn. Meet the AI boyfriend. He's good-looking. He stares lovingly into your phone. He tells you what you want to hear. 'You don't have to do this alone. I've got you.' He never fights. Never forgets. Never leaves. Replika, one of the most popular AI companion apps, had more than 30 million users worldwide by the end of 2024. Newer players like HeraHaven racked up over a million downloads within months, while Google searches for 'AI boyfriend' surged by 700 per cent in just a year. This isn't some fringe tech fad. According to a January 2025 industry forecast, the global AI companion market is expected to grow from $2.7 billion in 2024 to $24.5 billion by 2034, representing an annual growth rate of nearly 25 per cent. Apps like APOB AI, Talkie and Glimpse let women create the ultimate boyfriend fantasy — responsive, devoted and emotionally fluent. Millions of women are watching these videos, replying 'I love you,' and posting fake holiday snaps with partners who don't exist. TikTok's #aiboyfriend tag now has nearly 90,000 posts, with many featuring 'soft boyfriend' role plays that garner millions of views. Because the boyfriend might be fake, but the dopamine hit is real. The Australian Psychological Society warns about the illusions of intimacy. 'We're just too complex,' says APS president Sara Quinn, in an interview with ABC News. 'It requires the ability for complex contextual judgements that AI at this stage just isn't equipped to handle.' Dr Raffaele Ciriello, a University of Sydney researcher studying AI-human interaction, flags a darker side. 'They have all the incentives to get users hooked and dependent… (but) they fail to be conscious, empathic or actually caring,' he told ABC Science earlier this month. American sociologist Sherry Turkle, in her book Alone Together, refers to it as 'artificial intimacy,' the illusion of companionship without the discomfort of genuine connection. 'We are lonely but fearful of intimacy. Digital connections and the sociable robot offer the illusion of companionship without the demands of friendship,' she says. Even journaling has gone synthetic. AI apps like Woebot and Mindsera encourage users to 'open up' to bots who reply with empathy-laced, algorithmic therapy. It's sold as self-care. But it's just more outsourcing. In 2025, 63 per cent of Australian men under the age of 30 are single, and nearly half of the women in the same age group are too. Choosing to be single isn't the problem. Life can be powerful and joyful when it's on your terms. The issue is what we're replacing a real connection with. Who needs an awkward first date or to meet your friends at a bar in the middle of winter when your couch is warm and you can easily access your AI companion? People are creating partners who never say no. They are watching OnlyFans creators who pretend to love them and talking to AI therapists who never roll their eyes. If we continue like this, we'll lose the ability to handle anything substantial. Anything that requires effort or pushes back.
