For some time my sweetie-wife and I have been enjoying murder shows from the far north of Europe. Recently we have added two more programs to our rotation of after dinner entertainment.

Arctic Circle is a show set in the Lapland region of Finland. This is the part of the world where you get reindeer and lots and lots of snow. It is also the area of Finland that seems to analogous to American’s relationship with Appalachia, rustic and suspicious of outsiders and with a dose of religious fundamentalism. The show follows Nina a local cop who usually is dealing with drunks and poachers now entangled in a case involving cross border human trafficking, the Russian Mafia, and a novel and deadly virus while dealing with the issues of a single mother  with a special needs daughter and a growing affair with a foreign scientist.

The show is well produced, well acted, and is thoroughly engaging.

The second program is Jordskott a police thriller with horror overtones. Produced and set in Sweden, though it features the lead from the Finnish serries Bordertown now playing a heavy, this show centers on Eva a police detective who has returned home after the death of her father and the unresolved disappearance of her young daughter seven years earlier. Atmospheric and moody Jordskott, which translates roughly in Soil Shot, unfolds at tits own pace with just enough mystery and strange reveals the keep the viewer engaged.

Arctic Circle is currently streaming on the Roku Channel Topic and Jordskott is a Shudder exclusive.