‘The Sheep Detectives’ review: Talking animals deliver a cosy and fuzzy murder mystery

“Secretly talking sheep who are fans of crime fiction investigate the murder of their beloved owner.” The Sheep Detectives settles snugly within the confines of this one-liner to deliver a cosy, fuzzy and unlikely mystery.

In the English countryside, the farmer George (Hugh Jackman) is as devoted to his sheep as they are to them. George treats the animals like his children, even reading out crime novels to them at bedtime. Lily (voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is the Sherlockian one in the flock, always guessing the killer.

When George is found dead, and his long-lost daughter Rebecca (Molly Gordon) turns up, and the lawyer Lydia (Emma Thompson) produces a will that gives Rebecca a motive to murder, and the inept local cop Tim (Nicholas Braun) makes a hash of the investigation, Lily has to take charge.

Accompanied by Sebastian (voiced by Bryan Cranston), Mopple (voiced by Chris O’Dowd) and Sir Richfield (voiced by Patrick Stewart), Lily sets out to prove that her species is certainly not dumb. The other suspects include the butcher Ham (Conleth Hill), the hotel owner Beth (Hong Chau) and the rival shepherd Caleb (Tosin Cole).

Kyle Balda’s The Sheep Detectives is adapted by Craig Marzin from Leonie Swann’s bestselling novel Three Bags Full. The screen version is more sentimental and eager...

Read more