Jul 5

Jul 5 Yoon Jong-bin’s “Nine Puzzles”

Series review by Dennis D. McDonald

Nine Puzzles is a Korean murder mystery series that begins with a chilling scene: during a nighttime rainstorm, a high school girl arrives home to find her uncle lying dead in a pool of blood in a darkened house. At the scene, she picks up a single puzzle piece.

Fast-forward ten years. The girl is now a quirky police profiler working with detectives at a Seoul police station. She inherited a large sum of money from her uncle and still lives in the same house. His murder remains unsolved. One of the detectives she now works alongside still suspects her of having been involved in the killing.

Naturally, they don’t get along at first, despite having to work together. By this point, you might think you know exactly how the story will unfold between these two characters.

And it sort of does—but not in the way you’d expect. The young profiler, still in therapy after all these years, has some aggravating personality traits: she lacks social graces, speaks in a whiny voice, and routinely outsmarts those around her despite her unpredictable behavior. (At times, she reminded me of Stephen King’s Holly Gibney.)

When a new murder occurs and a similar puzzle piece is delivered to the profiler, she—and the rest of the team—are baffled by any potential connection to the earlier case. Then a third murder takes place, followed by another puzzle piece, and so on. The plot thickens quickly, introducing familiar elements such as police corruption, shady real estate dealings, urban renewal scandals, dismembered bodies, and even an eerie trip to an amusement park.

What sets the series apart are its outstanding production values, skillful character development, sharp writing, and some of the best English-language dubbing I’ve ever heard.

The series isn’t perfect. Even the strong acting and direction can’t fully mask the familiarity of some plot devices, the convenient arrival of puzzle pieces post-murder, or a late-breaking plot twist that flirts with deus ex machina territory.

Still, it’s an enjoyable ride, with well-developed characters—especially the young detective. I’d love to see more of her, annoying or not.