“Volpe” is back, with strong mystery movies

Right now, good scripted shows are hard to find.
Sure, it’s fun to have Olympics and game shows and such, but we still need good stories to slip into. “Signora Volpe” (shown here) has returned, just in time.
For its second season, the show has three movie-length tales. They debut on Mondays (starting July 29) at 6 p.m. on BBC America and on the Acorn streaming service … providing a clear upgrade.
Acorn (www.acorn.tv) has had a terrific collection of shows from England and its colonies. In its library, you’ll find strong mysteries – “Bloodlands,” “Dalgliesh,” “The Chelsea Detective,” “Midsomer Murders” and more.
Lately, however, competition from Britbox has made things more difficult. The last couple Acorn series – Jane Seymour’s “Harry Wild” and Lucy Lawless’ “My Life is Murder” – have had likable characters, pretty settings … but poorly developed plots.
Now comes the improvment: “Signora Volpe” has only three shows a season, but each is movie-length, with a deeply layered story. And this year’s second and third ones (Aug. 5 and 12) are even better than the others.
At the core is Emilia Fox, from the bottomless collection of Fox actors. Her dad, Edward Fox, starred in the original “Day of the Jackal” and “Edward & Mrs. Simpson.” Also busy are her brother Freddie, her uncle Jack and his sons Laurence (co-star of PBS’ “Lewis:”) and Jack.
Emilia has worked steadily in British TV (including taking over the starring role in “”Silent Witness”), but now she has the ideal role.
She plays Sylvia Fox, an agent for MI6, the British spy service. She visited the adopted home town of her sister (Tara Fitzgerald) in Italy, stayed to solve a mystery … then decided she didn’t want to leave. She bought a broken-down house and quit her job, except for occasional free-lance work.
That’s sort of where we thought the show would remain. She would be tthe new Jessica Fletcher or Miss Marple (albeit sleekly dressed, in gorgeou settings), n a tiny town where people keep killing each other.
That’s the case in this season’s opener (July 29): A despicable man has been killed, leaving a long list of suspects – topped bu a friend of Sylvia’s friend. The ultimate explanation is both logical and quietly moving.
But the next week (Aug. 5) brings a sharp change-up. Now Sylvia is doing free-lance spy work, as a personal assistant for a local crime family. Midway in the story, a key figure from her past appears.
And that propels us to the season-finale (Aug. 12), a fierce and complex story that depicts Sylvia as a fully developed person– smart, tough, resourceful, yet with the same fagility as other humans.
There are a few lapses in logic, but it’s mainly a dilly of a story that keeps us guessing. And that’s just what we need right now.