Magnificent New Mysteries Streaming On MHz Choice

            When you shatter your ankle like I did this summer and find yourself with your bandaged leg up on the couch for months while the bones heal, friends are always suggesting all these series to watch on Netflix and Amazon Prime. And while I did dive into a couple of them my heart (and remote control) always returns to MHz Choice, which streams a staggering array of mystery series from German, Sweden, Denmark, France, Italy, etc. I find myself up until 2 in the morning binging on their new offerings, soaking in all the suspense, sensational performances and scenic splendor. Here are some of my new favorites.

            Professor T. In this phenomenal series, Matthias Matschke brilliantly plays Professor Jasper Thalheim, the arrogant, eccentric, germ-phobic college professor of criminology who is brought in by two young detectives- Anneliese (Lucie Heinze) and Daniel (Andreas Helgi Schmid) to help them solve difficult cases. Much to the fury of the higher-ups, who find Jasper’s egotistical, unconventional methods exasperating. Later on in the series Professor T enters into a strange relationship with a prostitute, and the fatal events that follow seem to haunt Jasper throughout the second season. An incredibly great show.

            Murder By The Lake. A German/Austrian production set around Lake Constance on the Rhine. Two detectives from different countries are brought in for a complex case and end up warily working together from then on. Micha (Matthias Koeberlin) is a grungy, somewhat married detective who drives a VW bus, while Hanna (Nora von Waldstatten) is a beautiful, chilly woman haunted by a tragedy in her childhood who dresses in leather and drives a motorcycle. What’s nice about the two leads is the way they come to respect and care for each other- without the usual romantic undertow. The mysteries are smart and twisty and often incredibly suspenseful. And I really enjoyed Hannah’s truly oddball persona.

            Inspector Dupin. Handsome Pasquale Aleardi plays the intuitive, harried detective, exiled to Brittany (from Paris), who is miserable over his demotion. Not to mention he believes he is violently allergic to seafood and gets seasick on boats (both which surround him constantly). With a great crew of actors who play his devoted and crafty underlings, the show is refreshingly different in its approach and you really come to enjoy the way the detective defies brass or consistently is caught on highway hidden cameras speeding towards another crime he brilliantly solves. And the setting is just beautiful.

Art Of Crime. This one is really offbeat and fun. Nicolas Gob plays Antoine, the sexy, scrappy male detective who is forced to team up with a quirky art historian- Florence (Eleonore Bernheim) in order to solve a series of crimes that involve stolen paintings, forgeries and murders. Each mystery usually involves an artist who Florence conjures up in her mind to discuss his life and art with. This mix of art history and mystery is intoxicating and enjoyable and the two leads are just wonderful.

            Anatomy Of Evil. The lead in this show is Richard Brock (Heino Ferch) a criminal psychologist who teaches at a college in Vienna. He is brought in to assist on certain crimes but easily antagonizes cops and local authorities. Brock is a difficult, repressed, sullen man. He has a contentious relationship with his daughter (Sabrina Reiter), who is a cop, and occasionally becomes a suspect in a case in which he has to prove his innocence not to mention solve the crime. The great touch is that he has this quirk of always eating across the street at this restaurant run by a sweet, mother-dominated oddball who seems to be his only friend. These episodes can be quite suspenseful, if you can overlook Brock’s smile-free, crusty demeanor.

            Bukow And Konig. In this riveting German series, big, burly cop Alexander Bukow (Charly Hubner) has no problem skirting the law to get his man, while his partner, profiler Katrin Konig (Anneke Kim Sarnau), is a more by-the-book gal and easily exasperated with her partner. But she is also challenged and inspired by him. They get in the middle of some harrowing, hair-raising crimes- mixing with human traffickers and serial killers, and both become targets of some desperate, nasty characters. I love the rumpled, drunken sweet mess that Charly Hubner makes of Bukow but I have to say Anneke Kim Sarnau just blew my mind. In a later season she goes through a trauma that causes PTSD and her performance is just raw and heartbreaking. She is emblematic of the kind of sensational talent you can discover in any selection on the invaluable MHz Choice.