The British detective series for book lovers

BarcelonaMark Gatiss, co-creator of the popular Sherlock, is a true devotee of detective fiction, and this is evident in his latest television adventure, Bookish, a British series about a unique investigator that premieres this Tuesday on Filmin and will please fans of period pieces and books. Beyond writing it, Gatiss also stars in it: he plays Gabriel Book, the owner of a secondhand bookstore in 1946 London. Aside from his work, Book has a hobby that takes up almost more of his time than selling books: with the complicity of his wife, he helps the police solve crimes. According to Gatiss, the bookstore setting functions as a kind of "analog computer." "The answer to the mystery is there, somewhere," the creator explained to the series' director. Guardian.

The first season of Bookish It has six episodes and deals with three mysteries, one for every two episodes. Filmin will premiere the series in two batches: this Tuesday the first three episodes will be available, and next Tuesday, October 28, the next three will arrive. The series, which could be included in the genre of friendly mystery (cozy mistery), although Gatiss doesn't like this label very much, it has already been renewed for a second season.

A 'lavender marriage'

One of the distinctive elements of Bookish is that Gabriel and Trottie Book (Polly Walker) are what was known as a lavender wedding, that is, a marriage of cohabitation that involved a gay person, who was thus protected by the law, which at that time considered homosexuality a crime (in England homosexuality was decriminalized in 1967). In the case of the series, Gabriel is homosexual and Trottie has his own sentimental stories. "Normally [one lavender wedding] was a gay man and a gay woman who lived together for convenience, but there were also many people who just settled down together and didn't have children; it was a respectable facade. Trottie and Gabriel were best friends for many years, then they grew apart in the 1930s, when he was at his lowest point, she reappeared and they married. To the world at large, they are Mr. and Mrs. Book, but it is a very dangerous world,” explains Gatiss.

The action of the series begins with the arrival at the bookstore of Jack (Connor Finch), a young man who has just been released from prison and is hired by the Books and gives the past with, has no interest in the past. them.

In addition to being a detective fiction, Bookish It's also a period piece, and Gatiss admits to a certain fascination with the post-war era. "Part of the problem with the world we live in is that people get an impression of the Second World War from watching it," he said. The Great Escape Christmas Day. They forgot it was horrible. But the post-war period is one of my favorite periods, because it's rarely examined, but it gave rise to the foundations of the welfare state and the birth of the National Health Service. It was a time of great hope but also of great disappointment. I think there are some very interesting things about that subject," says the actor and screenwriter.