News Bookish Mark Gatiss Quirkily Solves Crimes in Bookish “Leave nothing out, especially if it’s salacious, gory, or vaguely scandalous.” By Molly Templeton | Published on June 24, 2025 Image: UKTV Comment 0 Share New Share Image: UKTV The name’s Book. Gabriel Book. And yes: Book owns a bookshop. Bookish is a new series coming to PBS that combines several things very beloved of certain audiences: books, bookshops, murders, and Sherlock co-creator Mark Gatiss. Here’s how the show is described by UKTV, which is releasing it in the UK: London 1946 is the setting for series one, with viewers introduced to the appropriately named Gabriel Book (Gatiss) who owns a bookshop in Archangel Lane. If his War was packed with espionage and secrets, Book’s Peace is just as full of adventure! Now he helps the police solve the strangest of crimes and the knottiest of murders. But his close association to the force is not without its dangers. For although he is very happily married to his childhood best friend, the captivating Trottie (played by Polly Walker), Book is a gay man living at a time when homosexuality was illegal. When Book and Trottie take in Jack it seems like an act of altruism: a second chance for a young jailbird. And Jack (played by Connor Finch) proves a worthy assistant both in the shop and in Book’s murder investigations.It soon becomes clear, however, that Jack’s appointment wasn’t quite as random as it at first appears… With a complex mystery at the heart of every story, featuring a wealth of well-known guest stars, marrying post-war nostalgia with the reckless and life affirming atmosphere of the times, Bookish is a stylish period detective drama with a difference. That’s quite a cast of British all-stars—and the series also features Joely Richardson (Emerald City) and Paul McGann (Doctor Who). There is also a dog named Dog. Gatiss is the creator and writer of Bookish as well as its star. The project was originally intended to be a novel, but Gatiss “couldn’t get the tone right,” as he told Deadline. Perhaps it’s appropriate, then, that the UK will also have a spin-off novel written by Matthew Sweet. (In the UK, the series has already been renewed for a second season.) Bookish will arrive on PBS at some still mysterious future date.[end-mark] The post Mark Gatiss Quirkily Solves Crimes in <i>Bookish</i> appeared first on Reactor.