Content around Up: Slow Horses 📺 and We Solve Murders 📖 - which is worth your time?
I know they are different mediums (one being a TV show and the other a book), but as they are both stories I lump them together as things that I love and worth reviewing!
I’ve spent the last week or so reading We Solve Murders and watching Slow Horses (not a bad way to kick off the New Year!). Here are my thoughts on which one you should add to your to be read or to watch list.
Slow Horses and We Solve Murders have a few things in common… both set in Britain (mostly!) and include thrills involving shootouts and a gang of unlikely heroes. However only one of them is actually worth the hype (in my humble opinion).
So which one should you spend your time on? Despite my preference for the written word, I’d have to say it’s Slow Horses by a mile.
Let’s discuss!
Slow Horses
About a year ago, I attempted to watch Slow Horses. According to my “resume play” status, I barely lasted seven minutes before abandoning it for something, no doubt, more immediately thrilling or boringly familiar (but comforting) like Friends. My initial impression? Dull. Forgettable. I had plenty of other shows clamouring for my attention.
Then came all the noise. So many people kept calling it one of the best shows they’d ever seen. Naturally, this left me puzzled. I’m not an eccentric or eclectic consumer. I generally enjoy popular content. I can recognise when a show is commercially successful but average, but also when it’s success because it’s actually bloody brilliant. The latter is a smaller category and I’m usually on the money. I suppose I should also say that I’m quite quick to judge whether a show is my thing—and, occasionally, I’ll admit… I’m a little too quick. Case in point- I’d firmly filed Slow Horses under “overhyped and not worth it” without a second thought. Until last week.
Faced with an alarming shortage of good long-form series, I proposed to my husband: “Should we give Slow Horses another go?” I’m a big fan of the Rest Is Entertainment podcast, where Marina Hyde and Richard Osman sing its praises, so we decided to restart Play and stick with it through the first couple of episodes.
Reader… I’m not ashamed to admit it, I was wrong- so very wrong!
Rewatching from the beginning, I don’t know what I missed the first time around or who I was when we first started watching (an idiot obviously). Slow Horses doesn’t merely start—it detonates. It’s packed with action right from the beginning and manages to weave intelligence, wit and suspense into every scene. Gary Oldman is brilliant, bringing his slovenly, foul-mouthed spymaster Jackson Lamb to life in a way only he could (he loves a big character!) The remaining cast aren’t exactly wilting flowers either. Kristin Scott Thomas plays the big MI5 boss trying to keep her job and reputation in tact with perfect precision, and Jack Lowden somehow makes a posh character called River Cartwright completely and totally likable! As for the plot, it’s clever and gripping, with just the right balance of drama, sharp dialogue, and emotional depth.
Unlike typical action-thrillers, which often rely on generic tropes and over used phrases, Slow Horses delivers something smarter. It’s British dry humour coupled with Spy Antics and a cast of characters who are all misfits in some way but impossible not to root for. Underneath all the sarcasm lies a surprising story of camaraderie, resilience, and heart.
If you’re unfamiliar, here’s a no-spoilers summary of season one: Slow Horses follows a team of disgraced MI5 agents who have been exiled to “Slough House,” a kind of purgatory for spies who’ve failed spectacularly and will forever be forced to do administrative work for the “Park”- the real MI5 spies. They are led by the Jackson Lamb (Oldman) who used to be a super spy but mysteriously fell from grace. As the season progresses, this group of outcasts becomes entangled in a high-stakes plot involving kidnappings and conspiracies, with far more danger- and causing much more nuisance than even MI5 anticipated.
I’ve just finished season one, and I can’t wait to watch the rest (I HAVE THREE MORE SEASONS TO WATCH- there’s something to be said for coming late to the party!)
Sometimes I make terrible first decisions, but thankfully, I eventually come around.
Speaking of terrible decisions, let’s talk about We Solve Murders by Richard Osman…
We Solve Murders (2/5 ⭐️)
This book, as you’ve probably guessed, did not work for me. It’s easy enough to read, but I wanted it to be over almost as soon as I began. It pains me to say that because I adore Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series—it’s funny, warm, and defined the “cosy crime” Genre for me. But We Solve Murders? It’s over-the-top, chaotic and lacks the sincerity and relatable moments that made the TMC shine.
The plot is all over the place but I’ll attempt to summarise: Bodyguard Amy Wheeler is framed for the murder of three influencers tangled up in a money-smuggling ring involving her employer’s private security firm Maximum Impact Solutions (or at least I think that’s roughly the plot-I did lose track quite a few times!). This all takes place whilst she’s on a protection assignment for Rosie D’Antonio- a fabulously wealthy and eccentric author. Amy turns to her former police officer father-in-law (Steve) for help. Total Chaos ensues as Amy, Rosie and Steve hop around the Caribbean and Ireland trying figure out whose behind it all, leaving a trail of bodies in their wake
There are many more characters thrown in for zero purpose with various forms of alliterative names … Tony Taylor, Mickey Moody etc. but I struggle to remember who they are or what they added.
In the TMC, the characters were so well developed, each with their own distinct voice and backstory- even the minor ones. In this new book, these characters feel like versions of the same person with nothing unique or interesting about them. They are OTT caricatures with an overall tone feels like it’s trying too hard to be clever.
And here’s my fundamental problem: Osman seems to have leaned into Big and Flashy James Bondesque scenes over Heart and Meaning this time. The quirky-but-believable charm of Thursday Murder Club is gone, replaced with overly explained jokes and tired cultural references (still being served kale & wellness jokes). There’s also a lot of Osman himself is baked into the dialogue which doesn’t quite match the fantastical nature of the story. I could actually hear his voice narrating every line. When listening to him speak, whether it’s on a podcast or a TV show-he often says the phrase “by and large”… I think he could literally trademark it this point. As I was reading the chapters, it came up at least 4 times from different characters. It was so repetitive and should’ve been caught by the editor. In fact I’d say that this needed a much tighter edit and better direction. I’m not saying that he shouldn’t branch out into different stories, but it still needs to speak to readers and make sense.
So, while both Slow Horses and We Solve Murders may sit in the crime section of our content landscape, only one lives up to the hype. With its brilliant cast, excellent writing, and perfectly paced story, Slow Horses earns its spot at the top. As for Amy Wheeler and her chaotic gang? I suspect I’ll be leaving them firmly on the shelf.
L
x
P.S still have a lot of love for Richard Osman and I’ve seen some rave reviews for We Solve Murders so perhaps it just didn’t resonate with me at this point. I will no doubt pick up his next book- hopefully it’s Elizabeth, Joyce and the gang!