It is a crying shame that what I truly believe is the finest show on television may not be going forward unless the campaign being waged by fans of PBS's "Mystery" to persuade the BBC to keep producing it is successful. Nathaniel Parker's Inspector Thomas Lynley and Sharon Small's Barbara Havers are certainly the finest duo to come along in ages.

The Inspector Lynley series is smart and atmospheric, Debbie Wiseman's opening music setting the tone for each intriguing installment. Based on Elizabeth George's characters, the BBC show has grown and matured beyond the books, which has frustrated some yet delighted others. The dashing Lynley was originally paired with Havers because it was taken for granted he would not be distracted by her in a romantic way. He was Oxford and she was from the other side of life.

The clashes that came in the first two seasons due to those differences became less important as the two quickly found there was more to each other than their reputations. They proved a great team and became quite close, their deep friendship and affection for each other rarely dwelled upon but always there beneath the surface. By season three when personal crisis hit both of them hard it was each other to which they clung.

Havers has softened some over time and Lynley has become more accessible, both due to the influence of the other. Parker and Small are fabulous in their roles, giving carefully nuanced performances in mysteries both intelligent and entertaining. If not for PBS and its "Mystery" this marvelous British series might not have garnered so many fans.

Those wanting to either catch up with what has transpired before season five, or just enjoy once again at their leisure this fine mystery series will be well-advised to get this set. It includes all those episodes from the first four seasons as shown on PBS in America. Those episodes are as follows:

SEASON ONE / Well-Schooled in Murder --- Payment in Blood --- For the Sake of Elena --- Missing Joseph SEASON TWO / Playing for the Ashes --- In the Presence of the Enemy --- A Suitable Vengeance --- Deception on His Mind SEASON THREE / In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner --- A Traitor to Memory --- A Cry for Justice --- If Wishes Were Horses SEASON FOUR / In Divine Proportion --- In the Guise of Death --- The Seed of Cunning --- The Word of God

Fans of quality television and especially mystery lovers will find a bonanza in these 16 installments starring Nathaniel Parker and Sharon Small as Lynley and Havers. Fans truly cherish this show as much as Lynley does his cars. Hopefully we have not seen the last of our favorite British detectives and can once again look forward to "Mystery" knowing at some point we can enjoy their company once again.

We started watching this series on television well after it had begun, so we missed the first four series. It's a very enjoyable mystery program, and it has been good to watch it from the beginning whenever we want. Being a British show, sometimes it's hard to understand the dialect, but we can rewind and relisten, or even watch an entire show again to catch all of the subtle nuances which abound in addition to clarifying some words. I bought this for my husband's birthday because I knew he was a fan, and we have enjoyed every show. I would have given it five stars except for the fact that we could find no closed captioning availibility that would help clarify some British mumbling. Great set! Can't wait to buy 5 and 6.

A very enjoyable series of well written and performed British mysteries (by an American writer) that engages AND holds the viewers mind from the first call to the solution of the case.

Major elements in this series are uneven; this may stem from the books, the series or both. The strength in this series lies in the relationships and resulting dialog. The two main characters evolve from stiff Brit and psycho cop into real people who are admirable, likeable, identifiable. (Ironically, the relationship that's supposed to be the strongest, that of Inspector Lynley and the cadaverous Helen (ref: series 1 & 2), rings very false. And that romance lurches along between episodes.) But the relationship between Lynley and Havers suffers a major setback when a conflict is imposed (ref. series 3). Now, conflict could evolve their relationship further, but this one puts the competent Havers "in her place" (socially, gender-wise) - totally contrived. Instead of reinforcing that relationships between men and women can have sexual awareness yet still have a strong platonic bond, the outcome is non-sequitor, sad and just plain uncomfortable. Beyond that, the plots sometimes are good and sometimes have major holes. It comes across that this series was developed by different people at different times. But the dialogue and scenery make the series a nice escape after a long work day.

As a fan of the Elizabeth George novels, I was impressed by the initial quality of the series. As the series moved beyond the novels, the plots became irritatingly predictable. George had the sense to expand the narrowness of a two character lead by adding four other central characters. We are left with Helen, interpreted as so neurotic that one wonders why anyone would spend more than ten minutes with her.