l_rawjalaurence The second in the series of Swedish detective thrillers set in the late Fifties concocted a complicated murder mystery involving a bride-to- be, her jilted fiancé (Alexander Stocks), a stepfather with a mysterious past (Bengt Järnblad) and a host of minor characters. Set in a small Swedish village, Christian Eklöw and Christopher Panov's production communicated the hothouse atmosphere, in which everyone knows everyone else's business: secrets cannot be kept for long. This proved exceptionally ironic, in view of the fact that all the murder suspects, it seemed, were prepared to weave a tissue of lives so as to throw Inspector Christer (Ola Rapace) off the scent. With the help of Ph.D. student Puck (Tuva Novotny), however, he managed to get to the truth of the matter and, in the manner of all good Agatha Christie-derived detective thrillers, revealed the murder in a climactic sequence at the end, when all the suspects were gathered together.What made KING LILY OF THE VALLEY more interesting, however, was its thematic subtext on the futility of romantic love. The murder victim, it seemed, had a long-standing boyfriend, as well as another admirer Lars-Ove (Philip Panov), who could never admit his true feelings for her. In a village where outward show mattered above all else, she was forced into contracting an unwanted marriage with Joakim. This particular plot-line was contrasted with the romantic tribulations of Puck and her fiancé Eje (Linus Wahlgren): although Linus wanted a white wedding, with Puck ideally wearing his mother's wedding-dress, Puck wanted something else - even though she did not quite know what it was. It seemed as if she was being forced into a similar emotional corner: that is, until a climactic sequence towards the end where she told Eje exactly what she wanted.Perhaps Puck was a victim of the times: the late Fifties setting in this adaptation proved significant, as it depicted a patriarchal world in which women's life-choices were very limited. Puck was something of a radical character insofar as she did not want to become a homemaker or a child-bearer, but sought a career of her own. However such choices are not available to all women, as the murder victim's fate revealed. The lilies of the valley, that formed a thematic backdrop to this episode, symbolized the futility of most women's struggle to assert themselves.A melancholy adaptation - although well performed and tightly structured - it offered a pessimistic view of female destiny in mid- twentieth century Sweden.

Tweekums Puck, fiancé Eji and their friend Crister the policeman are invited to a wedding; inevitably things don't go well. The bride vanishes the eve before her big day while going to inspect her bouquet. She eventually turns up dead, clutching her bouquet. There are plenty of suspects; including her fiancé and her best friend… who Christer has taken a liking to. As the investigation deepens it turns out that she was seen after going to the florists but those who saw her had their own reasons not to tell anybody. As the mystery plays out it looks as if Puck and Eji's relationship might unravel as she has doubts about giving up her studies and he worries that she doesn't love him.As one might expect there are plenty of suspects and all of them seem to have something to hide; the question is which of them would kill to protect their secret? The viewer will certainly be guessing till the end… I'm sure none will be fooled by the 'solution' revealed when a second body is found hanged in the woods. The central mystery was fun and the subplot involving Puck and Eji's upcoming nuptials gave some depth to their characters without distracting from the main story. The cast did a fine job although not speaking Swedish I had to rely on the subtitles to understand what they were saying! Overall this was an enjoyable mystery with none of the darkness that seems to permeate many Scandinavian mystery series and films.

karl With all the interest for Scandinavian crime stories, why not visit the Grand Old Dame of Swedish mystery novels Maria Lang. Fair amount of attention has been paid to period detail in this installment, not just in the mad men suits for men, but even women's hair and make-up do not offend here, as they usually do in retro drama.But then the production massively fails in the most unexpected place. Or rather, it takes place nowhere at all. There are no establishing shots, no feeling of location whatsoever. We could be in suburban Germany just as well.Maria Lang has a great sense of place in her books, and a lot of her charm lies in the sense of small town Sweden getting upset by murder. Shame on the makers of this series for ignoring the soul of her work. And a pity for the potential viewers for being robbed the views of idyllic locations. Why on earth leave them out?