With the second season of Westworld still 2 months away and AP Bio only offering a few hilarious episodes at this point, I was forced to do some research on 2018’s new TV shows, and thankfully I came across The Alienist. Based on the 1994 novel of the same name by Caleb Carr, TNT’s new series offers a late Victorian era mystery that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would’ve enjoyed.

Starring Daniel Brühl, Dakota Fanning and Luke Evans, the story follows Dr. Laszlo Kreizler (Brühl) as he investigates a series of child murders in New York City in 1896. Much like Murdoch Mysteries, the show incorporates real society figures like Teddy Roosevelt and JP Morgan. Without giving away too many details, the trio mentioned above have to try and convince the NYPD that a serial killer is preying on young male prostitutes by investigating using criminal psychology and quasi-modern techniques like fingerprinting.

I’m not going to suggest that everyone will enjoy this show, Michael Starr called it “sleepy” and you have to actually pay attention, but people who like period dramas or Sherlock Holmes-style mysteries should definitely check this one out. It’s stylistically very similar to Taboo, one of our favorite new shows from last year.

Watch ‘The Alienist’