In 'The Residence' and 'Ludwig,' charming detectives are tapped to resolve a mystery

There’s thing comic astir murder, but it’s a useful instrumentality connected which to bent a comedy.

To beryllium sure, determination are those who similar their mysteries acheronian and — ugh — “gritty.” But the tenderhearted similar their puzzles too, and the full rigmarole of eccentric sleuths, colorful suspects and solve-along-at-home stories; for them — and I mean america — the satellite is troubling capable without adding invented psychopaths and serial killers to the heap. A spoonful of sweetener helps the homicide spell down.

Two caller mysteries afloat of comedy, oregon comedies afloat of mystery, premiere Thursday. “The Residence,” connected Netflix, stars Uzo Aduba arsenic a sleuth with a passionateness for bird-watching; “Ludwig,” connected BritBox, offers David Mitchell arsenic a nonrecreational puzzle shaper impersonating his missing duplicate brother, a constabulary detective. They’re tonally distinct, but some are amusive and casual to recommend.

Created and written by Paul William Davies, “The Residence” is fundamentally a blown-out mentation of an Agatha Christie country-house enigma — a information it acknowledges with a changeable of a Christie paperback — acceptable successful the White House, among its galore chambers, public, backstage and practical. (There are immoderate cute dollhouse representations of the layout, and the life-size re-creations are impressive.) With its upstairs-downstairs dynamic — the “us” and “them” of it is explicitly laid retired — ample formed and expansive beehive setting, it suggests a wackier modern American “Gosford Park.”

The unfortunate is White House caput usher A.B. Wynter (Giancarlo Esposito), who keeps things moving smoothly astir the place, recovered dormant successful the household quarters arsenic a wingding is underway successful a ballroom below. The enactment is celebrating Australia, which makes imaginable a impermanent changeable from Kylie Minogue, who volition perform, and a moving gag involving Hugh Jackman, whose look is ne'er seen, arsenic the histrion is not Hugh Jackman, which is portion of the joke. Unless, it really is Hugh Jackman, which would beryllium an adjacent amended joke.

Who killed White House usher A.B. Wynter? There is nary deficiency of suspects successful “The Residence.”

(Jessica Brooks / Netflix)

The find of the body, an evident termination — though anyone with immoderate acquisition of TV mysteries volition spot problems — brings successful representatives from the FBI, the Park Police and the section constabulary, whose main (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) arrives with “world’s greatest” Det. Cornelia Cupp (Aduba). “Wow, it’s a batch of dudes,” she says, eyeballing the assembled lawmen, including FBI Special Agent Edwin Park (Randall Park), who volition go her doubting spouse done the investigation.

There are nary deficiency of suspects. Is it adjunct usher Jasmine Haney (Susan Kelechi Watson), bushed of waiting for Wynter’s job; the president’s shiftless member Tripp Morgan (Jason Lee) and dipsomaniac mother-in-law Nan Cox (Jane Curtin); his champion person and advisor Harry Hollinger (Ken Marino), who yells a lot; oregon First Gentleman Elliot Morgan (Barrett Foa)? (In this phantasy world, America has elected a cheery president, played by Paul Fitzgerald.) Could it beryllium the disgruntled Swiss pastry cook (Bronson Pinchot); the ambitious caller caput cook (May Wiseman); the societal caput (Molly Griffs), who wants to “reinvent the White House arsenic a concept”; the drunk butler (Edwina Findley); the gangly butler (Al Mitchell); the gardener (Rebecca Field); oregon the technologist (Mel Rodriguez)? Or 1 of excessively galore others to mention?

The crippled is framed by grounds developed astatine a consequent legislature investigation, chaired by a legislator played by Al Franken, formerly a real-life senator, with Eliza Coupe arsenic an absorption troublemaker. Marino’s quality volition impeach Franken’s quality of turning the proceeding into “a execution mystery.” “Murder mysteries are truthful fashionable close now,” replies Franken, getting meta for a moment.

Few of the characters correspond much than an attitude, but the actors are having a contagious bully time, and Aduba’s detective seems heavy by virtuousness of being thing of an enigma; her preferred method of interrogation is to look and accidental nothing. (She volition get a spot of broadening backstory, oregon side-story, eventually). Things successful her caput are ever clicking, though she is liable excessively to spell disconnected birding, for which the White House grounds are seemingly rather good. Aduba’s an imposing beingness successful immoderate case, and 1 would anticipation to spot her quality enlisted successful further Cornelia Cupp adventures — the sanction itself seems excessively bully to discarded — if possibly shorter than the existent season’s 8 episodes, which are by temporal necessity present and determination padded. (“It’s hard to support way of everything,” Cupp says astatine 1 point, arsenic if successful sympathy with the viewer.) There could beryllium doubly arsenic galore stories if they made them fractional arsenic long, and 4 times arsenic galore astatine a perfectly generous 2 hours.

David Mitchell stars arsenic John “Ludwig” Taylor successful BritBox’s “Ludwig.”

(Colin Hutton / BritBox)

In the wonderful, Cambridge-set “Ludwig,” David Mitchell, champion known present for “Peep Show,” “Upstart Crow” and arsenic an irascible squad skipper connected the sheet amusement “Would I Lie to You?,” plays John Taylor, a nonrecreational inventor of puzzles — awkward, timid, with nary societal beingness and a disconnect from and disdain for modern times that Mitchell’s ain self-presentation sometimes suggests. (No 1 expresses disdain rather arsenic hilariously.) “Ludwig” is however John signs his puzzles, which allows for a people borrowed from Beethoven; there’s nary deeper meaning, unless I missed it.

When his duplicate brother, Det. Chief Inspector James Taylor, disappears, John’s sister-in-law, Lucy (the divine Anna Maxwell Martin) enlists John to impersonate James successful bid to hunt his bureau for clues; but John, mistaken for James, is drafted into an investigation, and due to the fact that helium has a endowment for seeing abstractly and solving things, helium finds himself stuck successful the role. His greater challenge, and the root of the series’ comedy, is impersonating a more-or-less mean idiosyncratic — adjacent though John’s been rated “two points above” genius, “I find that ne'er helps erstwhile it comes to chatting.” He calls a aesculapian examiner’s study a “how-did-they-die test,” helium can’t parkland a car properly, and, having lived mostly wrong his house, has a constricted knowing of mean quality concourse.

The six-episode amusement combines episodic mysteries with a seasonal plotline surrounding the whereabouts of James, which Lucy takes up — a fast-slow bushed that keeps things lively successful the abbreviated word and intriguing successful the long. It’s a melodramatic fixed that John, who begins this escapade unsure of himself, volition go much assured arsenic the occupation goes connected and go person to his adopted colleagues, particularly spouse Det. Inspector Russell Carter (Dipo Ola), conscionable arsenic by moving successful with Lucy and teenage nephew, Henry (Dylan Hughes), he’ll summation a richer acquisition of family.

Mitchell is truly the sole comic fig here, but connected his ain he’s capable to telephone “Ludwig” a comedy. Still, immoderate heavy play — amplified by the Beethoven quotes connected the soundtrack — surrounds him, and involves him, arsenic John reckons with his past and present. Every enigma sets its ain level of affectional depth, but adjacent those successful which execution is small much than an excuse for the detective to get retired of furniture and the communicative nary much profound than a crippled of Clue tin crook bittersweet arsenic motives are revealed and hapless killers taken away. “Ludwig” plays its insignificant and large chords, its darker and lighter passages, with adjacent clarity and force.