Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries "Raisins and Almonds" #1.5 (2012) (TV)

"I stabbed him in the shoulder!", 6 April 2017

As luck would have it, Miss Fisher is on hand when a young man is found dead in a bookstore. Miss Fisher suspects foul play and based at least in part on her discovers at the crime scene, the bookstore manager, Miss Leigh, is arrested on suspicion of murder. In an ironic twist, the bookstore's owner, Ben Abrahams, hires Miss Fisher to prove Miss Leigh's innocence. Miss Fisher discovers that the murdered man was a scientist with a dream of creating a Jewish homeland. To fund the dream, he had been working on a formula as valuable as turning lead into gold – something valuable enough to kill for.

The further I get into the series, the more I enjoy each episode. Raisins and Almonds is truly entertaining. There's probably more mystery here than in the other episodes I've seen, with Miss Fisher doing more real sleuthing. Hidden messages, mystery poisons, and secret formulas – there's a lot here for Miss Fisher and Co to uncover. While the solutions to the mysteries have been a little obvious in several of the episodes so far, that's not the case this time. I guessed incorrectly throughout Raisins and Almonds. Scenes that stood out to me included the nighttime chase in (and out) of the bookstore and (obviously) the final standoff with the murderer. This one gets an 8/10 from me.

Another enjoyable aspect of this particular episode is the side- story featuring Miss Fisher's hired muscle, Bert and Cec. I don't think I've written about them before, but they always add a ton of flavor to each episode – even when their parts are small. It was nice to see the pair given a bit more screen time than normal in Raisins and Almonds.

8/10