If you enjoy a great mystery, then look no further than “Death and Other Details” on Disney+.
This 10-part series takes place on-board a luxury cruise liner, SS Varuna, hired by the influential Collier family.
With the current CEO Lawrence (David Marshall Grant), looking forward to retirement, he has yet to announce his successor to Collier Mills.
He is joined by other members of the Collier family, which includes Anna (Lauren Patten), who is primed to take over from her father; Leila (Pardis Saremi), a former clickbait journalist and now Anna’s wife, who is prone to paranoia; Anna's drug addict brother Tripp (Jack Cutmore-Scott); and the matriarch, Katherine (Jayne Atkinson)
Also, joining them is Celia Chun (Lisa Lu), a billionaire clothier looking to purchase a significant stake in the Collier business.
She is joined by her granddaughter, Eleanor (Karoline), who will inherit Celia’s empire. Eleanor also has a romantic past with Anna.
Llewelly Mathers (Jere Burns), the Colliers’ lawyer, Alexandra Hochenberg (Tamberla Perry), the governor of Washington, Father Toby Briggs (Danny Johnson), Derek (Sincere Wilbert), Toby’s 14-year-old TikTok influencer son, and Keith Trubitsky (Michael Gladis), an overbearing businessman, are the other guests on the cruise line.
The crew includes Sunil Ranja (Rahul Kohli, the owner of the SS Varuna, Teddy Goh (Angela Zhou) as the crew manager, and Jules (Hugo Diego Garcia) as the head of security.
But the key characters are Rufus Cotesworth (Mandy Patinkin), who is touted as the “world’s greatest detective” and is in the employ of the Chun family, and Imogene Scott (Violett Beane), who resents Rufus for abandoning her as a little girl and not keeping his promise by solving the murder of her mother.
Imogen was then raised by the Colliers and forged a close bond with Anna.
While everything appears to be smooth sailing at first, the murder of Keith, who is Rufus’s close friend, stirs a hornet's nest when it is revealed that he was secretly working on a case.
And so Imogene, who has a gift for noticing the unusual details, reluctantly partners with Rufus to investigate the murder. She is hoping to get closure on her mom’s murder in the process.
They are joined by Agent Hilde Eriksen (Linda Emond) from Interpol.
As the investigation gains momentum, the skeletons in everyone's closet start toppling out. Infidelity, sadomasochism, prejudice, greed, blackmail and ambition are exposed.
Every episode throws more twists and turns, leaving the viewer completely baffled in trying to figure out the bad guys from the good guys who have done a few bad things.
Patinkin is simply marvellous as he channels his inner Hercule Poirot. And Beane wonderfully offsets his genius crime-solving. But her past does derail her at times.
The characters are so wonderfully etched, with so many layers that fuel the intrigue right until the last episode.
There is no smooth sailing in this mystery drama but viewers will be completely invested in the turbulent journey.