Most TV detectives have a gimmick. Just doing the diligent work of piecing together a puzzle isn’t enough. And to a minor extent, that’s true of “Art Detectives” on Acorn TV, about a policeman who heads up the one-man Heritage Crime Unit in the U.K. His specialty is crime linked to the art world.
In the first episode, Mick Palmer (“True Blood’s” Stephen Moyer) travels far from home to investigate a case and is handily assisted by a local constable named Shazia Malik (Nina Singh) — aided so well, in fact, that she thereafter joins him to become the second member of the Heritage Crime Unit. But they’re not quirky geniuses. Nor are they haunted by a traumatic backstory. Palmer and Malik are just smart, if fairly average, people who are good at figuring out what happened. That’s a straightforward but wonderfully satisfying template, and the kind of thing that’s become a rarity in a genre where the main character’s eccentricities might as well be a shorthand that distinguishes one show from another.
The mysteries in “Art Detectives” are well-constructed and intricate without veering into anything either too silly or serious. Palmer doesn’t have much of an ego. His one minor idiosyncrasy is the thin scarf he wears tied at his neck like a tiny cravat, barely noticeable beneath his shirt collar. Moyer is in his salt-and-pepper years and plays Palmer as a man who is sweetly awkward in his romantic life, but more assured — if still low-key and endlessly polite — in his professional investigations.
His estranged father, an infamous art forger, suddenly reappears, complicating his tidy life. If you’re here, you must be up to something, Palmer sighs. He’s too wary to trust his father’s motivations by this point. “Musta been a nightmare having a forger for a dad,” someone says. “He’d say it was a nightmare having a policeman for a son,” Palmer replies. His dodgy father becomes a major issue in the season finale, when Palmer finally has to do more than simply grimace at the guy.
We know even less about Malik off the job, except that her immigrant family is overprotective and calls her constantly on the phone at inopportune moments to check in, but she takes it in stride. Though upbeat and curious (and perhaps glad to be out of uniform), she was hoping for a bit more excitement in the new gig. When they get called to a case in Gloucestershire, she asks: “Someone break into a vault full of antique diamonds?” No, Palmer says: “A farmer has found a collection of Viking artifacts!” He’s thrilled at the prospect; she’s underwhelmed.
On another case, they visit the ugly, modernist home of a suspect who has made his riches as an influencer, and the guy points to a painting on the wall and challenges Palmer to identify the artist. Palmer does so easily, but adds: “An acquired taste.” It’s an understated putdown, but the man doesn’t even blink: “And I’ve acquired him!”
The definition of art here is pretty expansive, to include pricey fine wines or memorabilia sold at auction (rock instruments in one case, salvaged items from the Titanic in another, the latter dubbed “disaster-abilia”). Corruption and money laundering have long fueled the art world, and it’s fun to see a show put some of that intrigue center stage. When fakes are passed off as the real thing, of course that would lead to murder. Or at least, fictional murder.
“Art Detectives” — 3 stars (out of 4)
Where to watch: Acorn TV
Nina Metz is a Tribune critic.
