TV-GPS: MAARDAM

I've become a big fan of the internation mystery TV shows to be found each night on the Mhz Network.  Right now my two big favorites that are currently playing are period pieces - 'Crimes Of Passion', set in 1950s Sweden and 'Nicolas Le Floche' of 1760s France.

There is a series of at least nine TV movies based on a character named Van Veeteren, a retired Detective Chief Inspector who originated in novels by Håkan Nesser.

The stories take place in the town of Maardam, a city just as fictional as the country it's located in - and that remains unnamed.  This country is described as being somewhere in the north of Europe with heavy influences of Sweden, Poland, Germany, and Netherlands.  The City of Maardam has a population of 300,000 as of the first novel "The Mind's Eye" (which may be the one Van Veeteren novel that has not been adapted for Toobworld.)

Someday Mister Nesser might reveal the name of his fictional country.  But it's probably too late - I'm sure there are too many readers who have come up with their own choices and will never be satisfied with anything else.  

But for a little fun here at Toobworld Central, there are a few options to be found among Northern European countries already established in other TV series, many of which might be found on that extra land mass above Russia.

I'm torn between Drublegratz from 'The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.' and Caronia from 'Get Smart'.  And even though my druthers lean toward Caronia, I think there's something about Maardam, Drublegratz, which I find amusing.....

BCnU!