Let’s face it, for most people actress Lucy Lawless will
always be Xena the warrior princess. The fact is she’s done far more roles than
that and the series ended over 18 years ago. But it will always be associated
with her. That or her part of Lucretia in the cable series SPARTACUS. Both are
heroic roles but she needed something a bit different. Thankfully that happened
with the Australian series MY LIFE IS MURDER.
Lawless stars as private investigator Alexa Crowe, an
ex-police detective who gets roped back into solving crimes by her old partner.
Using techniques that are a bit different from her co-workers, Alexa was able
to have an unprecedented number of crimes solved in the past. Now she stays at
home and tinkers with her quality German mixer and trying to cook. While she
might deny wanting to get back into the swing of things, her interest in the
items brought to her takes over and soon she’s on a new case.
Her first case involves a male escort whose latest customer
was found dead having jumped to her death from his balcony. Of course the
easiest way to find the clues needed to find out if this is a suicide or a
murder is to pose as a client for the man and get into his life. The problem
with that is that it also could put her life in jeopardy if he is the killer.
If that mystery wasn’t enough the second episode has her
trying to solve a locked door mystery. Locked door mysteries are those where
the victim is found dead in a hotel room with all the doors and windows locked
from the inside. Never an easy puzzle to solve but I would say that the odds of
Alexa solving this crime are pretty good.
Subsequent episodes involve a number of other mysteries that
challenge our heroine and her abilities.
CFO dies during a morning bike ride, a cooking school student is killed,
a hit and run driver who turns herself in may not be the actual killer, dealing
with a clairvoyant on a case, returning to her school after the death of a
beloved teacher and more happen in the series. All of them present interesting
cases and all combine a bit of mystery, adventure and humor that make this show
one that all can enjoy.
While watching the show I kept thinking back to Jessica
Fletcher and MURDER SHE WROTE as well as Miss Marple mysteries. The only
difference is that both were much older than Lawless. But the world of crime
solving women is small and it’s nice to see another character brought to life
that serves women well.
Watching the series I was stunned to later realize that
Lawless is 52. She doesn’t look that much older than she did when she played
Xena. No that isn’t a misogynistic comment, it’s a compliment. Always stunning
and at the same time with the ability to act better than a number of actresses out
there this show was made a joy to watch because of Lawless. As the central
character of the show the weight of its success rides on her shoulders. She
carries it well and one can hope that we’ll see more of Alexa Crowe in the
future.
But for now we have these 10 episodes to get us by. And
being on disc means we can watch them over and over again. At least until
series 2 comes out. Let’s hope that happens because this one is a lot of fun to
enjoy.
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