As with all this superb series, I'd suggest reading the book first. The book is the enormous buffet, this is just a tiny selection of what was on the table. To be fair to any adaptation of these novels, what to leave out must be a heart-rending decision for the screenwriters, because nothing is wasted in the telling of these intricate plots. So, what is good about this adaptation? The Cornish scenes were balm to the heart. Ted and Joan, (Strike's uncle and his wife, and surrogate mum and dad) were delightful. They stayed true to the book, although I was desperately hoping we'd get Joan planning her funeral so she'd be no bother to anyone scene. Unfortunately not. If anything sums up a life well lived for other people, it's that this woman wanted her ashes scattered at sea so the London-based Lucy and Strike don't have to make the effort to visit her grave. Brilliant writing.
What didn't work for me? I found the adaptation suffered from the usual, and utterly predicable BBC diversifying of everything. If you can't replace black characters from a novel with white actors you shouldn't do it the other way around either. Not only did one character turn from being a Nordic-blonde, strong, slightly masculine, tall, thin lesbian, she became a short, fat black woman. Very bizarre and jarring. Michelle Obama being played by Julia Roberts anyone? Just wrong. Many of the characters in the 1970s were turned black which is even more jarring as black people are not, despite what the BBC might want us all to believe, native to the UK, and many of us have still never met one now, let alone in the 70s.
Robin didn't work as well for me in this series for some reason. Why have they dyed her hair dark brown? Her strawberry blonde locks were her main feature in both book and earlier episodes. Now she really doesn't stand out all that much as the head-turner she's described as. She looked mousey, which was at odds with the new aggression they've given her. Bullying an old, senile man, despite what he might have done in the past, is not consistent with Robin's character and not in the book.
So, well worth watching if you've read the book. Be prepared for a slight taste of the gourmet meal the book is, but well worth watching otherwise.