Mark Gatiss is brilliant in this series – just don't call it cosy crime
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


Perth Now
2 hours ago
- Perth Now
Big change for Sydney's NYE fireworks
Revellers taking in Sydney's legendary New Year's Eve fireworks show could soon have to shell out $50 to access a prime viewing spot in a major shake-up to how tourists and locals experience the beloved event. North Sydney councillors will decide next week whether to implement 'ticketed access' to Blues Point, a popular vantage point that fronts Sydney Harbour and the Harbour Bridge. The council area boasts three renowned vantage points for the show, namely Bradfield Park, Lavender Bay and Blues Point, with thousands of punters descending on the spots on December 31 to take in the party. But a new report, which will be debated at the council's Monday night meeting, recommends councillors establish an introductory $50 ticket price for Blues Point to recoup costs associated with New Year's Eve. 'The current budget for NYE is $1,086,000,' the report states. 'To introduce ticketing at Blues Point only, additional costs of approximately $95,000 would be incurred including contract staff, equipment, and additional communications support. This would result in a total cost of $1,181,000. Sydney's NYE fireworks shows draws in huge crowd numbers across the CBD and North Sydney. NewsWire / Flavio Brancaleone Credit: News Corp Australia 'If 8000 tickets were sold to access Blues Point at $50 per ticket, this would generate $400,000 in revenue, reducing council's net expenditure to manage NYE crowds to circa $781,000.' At the moment, access to all three sites is free. Council costs for the event include providing toilets and bins and crowd and traffic management. Bradfield Park sits just below the northern end of the Harbour Bridge, close to Kirribilli House, while Lavender Bay sits between the park and Blues Point. The report acknowledges introducing tickets could cause some consternation in the community. 'Ticketing for an event which has been free of charge could see large numbers of non-ticket holders arriving at the sites, potentially manifesting in unsettled behaviour near entry gates, dissatisfaction voiced to staff on the ground or complaints to council's customer service centre,' the report states. North Sydney Council takes in the densely populated parts of Sydney immediately north of the Harbour. Supplied Credit: News Corp Australia 'This can be managed by regular, targeted communications in the lead-up to the event, along with well-planned operations and thorough briefing of staff prior to the event.' The countdown and fireworks is a hugely popular draw for both Sydneysiders and tourists from across the world. British tourist Ben Scammell, speaking after the 2023-24 show, told NewsWire that he was overawed and did not have words for the spectacle he witnessed. 'That was just … I don't have words for it,' he told said. 'It made the whole coming to Australia so much worth it … it was the pinnacle. 'That moment will last my whole lifetime.' The first batch of fireworks to mark the start of a new year explodes over Sydney Harbour at 9pm, with a second batch at midnight. Earlybird fireworks devotees grab the best spots early in the day. NewsWire/ Monique Harmer Credit: News Corp Australia Hundreds of thousands of people cram into the CBD and North Sydney to witness the show. The report to North Sydney Council outlines three options for the 2025-26 event. Option 1 involves ticketing across all three spots to achieve 'full cost recovery'. Option 2 involves 'partial cost recovery', with ticketing limited to Blues Point, and Option 3 involves continuing with 'free managed access'. The report recommends the councillors trial option 2. 'Subject to community consultation and feedback following NYE 2025-26, council could then decide whether to change the ticket price for future NYE managed access, expand or maintain the number of ticketed locations or return to free-access options for all managed sites,' the report states. NewsWire reached out to North Sydney Mayor Zoe Baker for comment, but she didn't respond by the time this article was published.


Perth Now
4 hours ago
- Perth Now
Ozzy Osbourne's final months filmed for a documentary
Ozzy Osbourne's final months were filmed for a documentary. The 76-year-old Black Sabbath rocker passed away earlier this week following a long battle with Parkinson's disease and Jack revealed his parents, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, had been filming a docuseries Home To Roost about their move back to Buckinghamshire in the UK after 20 years in the USA. Jack also told the Daily Mail's Weekend magazine that his father had finished an autobiography called Last Rites, which is due out later this year. Jack, 39, did the interview before his father passed away and during the chat, he spoke about his work as a co-producer on an upcoming biopic about Ozzy. He said: 'Right now it'll take place over the Sabbath era and early 1980s. We're definitely going for a more adult rating for the film. 'This is by no means going to be a fluff piece. Right now we're going through a rewrite with Craig Borten, who wrote [Matthew McConaughey-starring] Dallas Buyers Club.' News of Ozzy's death was confirmed by his family in a statement, which read: "It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning. He was with his family and surrounded by love. "We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time. Sharon, Jack, Kelly, Aimee and Louis." It was later reported that Ozzy passed away at his home in Buckinghamshire and his family had flown in from Los Angeles to be with him. A source told MailOnline: '[His passing was] unexpected to be this soon." The insider added that daughters Aimee, 41, and Kelly, 40, had come from Los Angeles to be with their father and Jack had flown in from his home in Idaho to watch his father perform at his final Black Sabbath gig in Birmingham on July 5. The source said: 'Ozzy was always meant to come back to Britain to live in Buckinghamshire, it was where Sharon had spent so long preparing their family home for him. 'There was much hope that he would be around for a lot longer than this but at one point there were fears they would not get him back from Los Angeles for the concert earlier this month. 'Kelly has been at the house a lot in the last week or so, so has Aimee. It is terribly sad for all of them, they really hoped he would be able to carry on for a bit longer. "But it's so lovely that he had his children around him during his last days."


Perth Now
6 hours ago
- Perth Now
British jazz singer Cleo Laine dead at 97
British jazz singer Cleo Laine, who performed with musical greats including Frank Sinatra and starred as an actress in London's West End and on Broadway, has died aged 97. Her death was announced on Friday in a statement from her children Jacqui and Alec. Born to an English mother and a Jamaican father in a suburb of London in 1927, she initially worked as a hair-dresser, a hat-trimmer and a librarian. She married in 1946 and had a son while still a teenager. Driven on by her dream of becoming a singer, she divorced and got her big break in 1951, when she joined the band of English saxophonist and clarinettist John Dankworth at 24. Dankworth's band decided her name was too long - at the time she thought she had been born Clementine Campbell, though a passport application later revealed her mother had used her own surname Hitching on the birth certificate. The men of the Dankworth Seven band thought her name was too cumbersome for a poster, and that her nickname Clem was too cowboy-like. They settled on a new stage persona for her by drawing "Cleo" and "Laine" from hats. In 1958, she and Dankworth married. Their home became a magnet for London's jazz set: friends included stars from across the Atlantic such as Oscar Peterson and Ella Fitzgerald, Lester Young and Dizzy Gillespie. After acting as well as singing in Britain through the 1960s, Laine toured Australia in 1972 and performed at New York's Lincoln Centre. The recording of a further show, at Carnegie Hall, won her a Grammy. Recordings included Porgy and Bess with Ray Charles. In 1992 she appeared with Frank Sinatra for a series of shows at the Royal Albert Hall in London, but she was best known for her work with Dankworth's bands. He later became her musical director. The couple built their own auditorium in the grounds of their home near London and were friends with Princess Margaret, the sister of Queen Elizabeth II. Their two children went on to become musicians. Dankworth - who Laine described as being "joined at the hip" with her - died in 2010. Hours after his death, Laine performed a scheduled show in their auditorium, announcing the news about her husband only at the end of the concert.