One necklace, many secrets

missing necklace worth $16 million is enough to cause trouble in any household; in The Unusual Suspects, the theft quickly becomes only the beginning of the problem. The four-part Australian series opens in the affluent world of Sydney's Eastern Suburbs, where expensive homes, private parties and carefully maintained reputations provide the setting for a crime that brings together women from very different backgrounds. In the thick of it is Roxanne Waters, a wealthy businesswoman whose prized necklace suddenly disappears. The obvious question is who took it. The more interesting question, however, is why. The story wastes little time introducing the people who could have something to hide. Sara Beasley, played by Miranda Otto, is wealthy, image-conscious and used to having control over her surroundings. Her Filipino nanny, Evie De La Rosa, played by Aina Dumlao, lives a very different reality. Evie is working in Australia to provide for her daughter back in the Philippines. Her position gives her an unusual view of the privileged around her. The necklace brings these separate lives together in increasingly complicated ways. A theft investigation soon starts exposing problems that have little to do with jewellery. Relationships become strained, personal secrets come to the surface and characters who appear to have nothing in common find themselves connected to the same mess. The story keeps adding information without making the mystery difficult to follow. That is where The Unusual Suspects becomes particularly enjoyable. The series does not reveal everything at once. Instead, it lets suspicion move from one character to another. Just when one explanation begins to make sense, another detail changes the picture. The women at the centre of the story are also far more interesting than their initial appearances suggest. Sara may seem to have the perfect life, but the confidence she displays does not necessarily match what is happening privately. Evie, meanwhile, is not written as a helpless outsider who simply gets caught up in someone else's drama. She is observant and capable and her circumstances matter to the story. The Filipino characters give the series much of its personality. Their friendships and conversations bring warmth and humour to a story that could otherwise become dominated by the wealthy characters and their problems. Their experiences also reveal the social divide running underneath the glamorous surroundings. The people serving at lavish gatherings and maintaining expensive homes have their own worries, ambitions and relationships. The series gives those stories room to develop. A theft investigation soon starts exposing problems that have little to do with jewellery. Relationships become strained, personal secrets come to the surface and characters who appear to have nothing in common find themselves connected to the same mess. The story keeps adding information without making the mystery difficult to follow. The humour is another reason the show remains easy to watch. It does not constantly push for laughs, but there are enough lighter moments to keep the tension from becoming heavy. Characters react to increasingly ridiculous situations in ways that feel entertaining rather than forced. The performances fit that tone well. Dumlao gives Evie a calm presence that becomes increasingly important as the situation around her grows more complicated. Otto is particularly entertaining as Sara, whose confidence and composure become harder to maintain as events move beyond her control. Michelle Vergara Moore brings another energy to Roxanne, whose position at the centre of the theft makes her motives worth watching closely. The series also benefits from keeping the story short. Four episodes are enough to establish the characters, complicate the robbery and bring the different threads together without stretching the mystery beyond its limits. There is always another piece of information waiting to emerge, but the story does not require a long list of characters or complicated explanations to keep things moving. There is a refreshing amount of uncertainty throughout. Nobody appears completely innocent, but neither does everyone behave as though they have something sinister to hide. People make questionable decisions for personal reasons and those decisions gradually become part of the larger mystery. That makes the necklace more than a stolen object. It becomes the reason people start revealing parts of themselves they would rather keep private. In the end, the relationships and secrets have had time to collide, giving the story a satisfying sense of movement. The series does not rely solely on the question of who committed the theft. It is just as interested in what happens when people from very different worlds are forced into the same situation. The Unusual Suspects is an entertaining watch for viewers who enjoy crime stories with plenty of character drama around them. It's a lively, entertaining mystery that gives its audience plenty of reasons to keep watching. The writer is a freelance contributor