Murder at sea

Underwater slaughter of a journalist ... The struggle to get a murder conviction ... Danish police methodically unravel the case ... Dogs sniffing the waves ... Miss Lumière reviews The Investigation 

Watching The Investigation (SBS On Demand) is an object lesson in Danish cool.

From the icy landscapes and minimalist interiors to the cold stares and minimal emotions of the police officer in charge, this six-part series is big on chills, and (refreshingly) short on cheap thrills.

The Investigation meticulously dramatises possibly the most notorious murder in recent Danish history; that of intrepid young Swedish journalist Kim Wall, who agreed to interview eccentric millionaire inventor Peter Madsen alone at sea on the submarine he built.

Wall never returned, although parts of her did, rather gruesomely, months after she was sexually assaulted, tortured, decapitated, dismembered and discarded.

The story of what happened is truly grotesque, yet writer/director Tobias Lindholm has consciously avoided sensationalism, instead focussing on the police investigation itself and on the devastating effects of Wall's disappearance and murder on her family.

Such is the purity of intent, the accused is never mentioned by name, nor his crime depicted, in over four hours of television. 

Nor is he shown in any way. Presumably Lindholm wished him to fester in anonymity. 

Swedish journalist Kim Wall

No so Wall's parents Ingrid and Joachim Wall, played with emotional gravitas and dignity by Pernilla August and Rolf Lassgård.

It's clear from the outset that the real Walls had significant input and this gives the series both its strength and delicacy.

However, The Investigation's true centre is Copenhagen's head of homicide Jens Moller, a brilliant, contained performance by Søren Malling from The Killing.

Here is a man who feels everything, yet reveals little behind impossibly chunky glasses. He's a bona fide obsessive, concerned only with bringing Madsen to justice.

It's a masterful piece of non-acting, which highlights just how ramped up most other crime dramas are: to wit, Bryan Cranston's vaudevillian rendition of a New Orleans judge in Stan's Your Honour, featuring a plot so contrived it culls credulity.

But back to grim reality. 

The Investigation dives deep into details of the police investigation and its efforts to find enough evidence to convict Madsen of murder, rather than manslaughter.

Throughout, Madsen keeps changing his story, claiming Wall died accidentally after hitting her head - which only makes Moller and his team more determined. 

There's a documentary rigour to the series, which also delivers a lethal critique of the lurid press coverage at the time. (And not a Rupert rag in sight). 

Lindholm has done a fine job capturing the Danish authorities' dogged pursuit of the facts, which at one point (literally) involved the controversial use of cadaver dogs in the search for missing body parts.

The pared back script highlights the critical role of the chief prosecutor Pilou Asbaek (a thoughtful Jakob Buch-Jepsen from  Borgen) and cleverly sets up the light bulb moment which illuminated Madsen's monstrous culpability and put him in prison for the rest of his (un)natural life.

The Investigation is a beautifully made series about the solving of a horribly executed crime. 

One for lovers of truth, justice and the Danish way.