Mark Gatiss’s 'Bookish' is being hailed as the ''next best thing to Sherlock'' — Here’s why viewers are hooked

Highlights:

• Mark Gatiss stars as Gabriel Book, a crime-solving bookshop owner in post-war London in Bookish.
• The detective drama premiered on U&Alibi on 16 July 2025, with two episodes airing weekly.
• Critics praise the series for its smart plotting, rich period detail, and modern queer representation.
• A second season has already been confirmed, with filming set to begin this summer.

Mark Gatiss, best known for co-creating Sherlock, is back with another brainy sleuth, and this time, it’s personal. Bookish, a 1940s-set detective drama written by and starring Gatiss, follows the eccentric Gabriel Book, a former intelligence agent turned antiquarian bookseller who helps the police crack cases in bombed-out postwar London. The six-part series, which debuted this week on U&Alibi, has already garnered praise for its clever plots, layered characters, and strong sense of time and place, with some calling it “the next best thing to Sherlock.”

  Mark Gatiss brings queer detective drama Bookish to life as fans call it the new SherlockInstagram/uandalibi

What is Bookish about? Inside the premise and setting

Set in 1946, Bookish introduces Gabriel Book, a tea-loving, ginger snap-baking bibliophile who runs a bookshop on Archangel Lane. Behind his mild-mannered exterior lies a sharp intellect honed by wartime service. With a quirky filing system and a special “Churchill letter” granting him access to investigations, Book works alongside the police while navigating a double life as a gay man in a repressive era.

His domestic arrangement is just as unconventional: he lives with his best friend Trottie (Polly Walker), in a lavender marriage that hides both their truths. Alongside them is Jack (Connor Finch), a young ex-con taken in as a shop assistant, and Nora (Buket Kömür), a war orphan with a flair for sleuthing.

Each pair of episodes follows a standalone case, from skeletons in plague pits to arsenic-laced murder, while teasing out larger mysteries about Book’s past and Jack’s true identity.

How Bookish compares to Sherlock, and why fans are on board

Though comparisons to Sherlock are inevitable, Bookish offers something distinct. It trades fast-paced modern twists for rich historical textures and a gentler pace, drawing inspiration from classic whodunits à la Agatha Christie. Critics have noted that Gatiss “plays fair” with his audience, offering tightly woven mysteries that reward attention to detail.

But it’s the characters, not just the crimes, that are drawing viewers in. Gabriel Book’s sexuality isn’t just a character note; it’s interwoven with the story, giving Bookish a rare kind of queer visibility in the genre. Gatiss has said the show’s concept came from imagining a bookshop as a kind of analogue search engine: “The answer is in there somewhere.”

What do reviews and social media say about Bookish?

Early reviews have been overwhelmingly positive. The Times praised it as “deceptively multifaceted,” while The Telegraph described it as “a witty, well-plotted sleuther.” The Radio Times went so far as to call it “a breath of fresh air” in a market crowded with detective dramas.

On social media, fans have expressed delight at the show’s mix of charm and darkness, praising its performances and historical authenticity. The casting of Daniel Mays as a jovial butcher-turned-killer in the first case had viewers hooked, especially as the storyline spiralled into revelations about murder, plague bones, and mistaken blackmail.

Will there be a Bookish season 2?

Yes. Before the first episode even aired, Bookish was greenlit for a second season. Filming is expected to begin in summer 2025, with a likely release in mid-2026. Gatiss and the core cast, including Walker, Finch, Kömür, Elliot Levey, and Blake Harrison, are all set to return. While no new guest stars have been announced, the structure of the series means fresh faces are expected to appear in each new mystery.

Gatiss expressed his excitement in a statement: “I’m thrilled that the team at U&Alibi are allowing me to dive back into the world of Bookish and create more fiendish crimes for Gabriel Book and the team to solve.”