Mare of Easttown is about a murder. It's also about kidnapping(s). Clinical Depression. Teenage angst. Pedophelia. Incest. Suicide. Babies out of wedlock. Another murder. Divorce. Drug-Addiction. Motherhood. Lies and deceit. Fatherhood. Unfaithful wives. Unfaithful husbands. Abuse. The new guy in town. The new cop in town. Secrets. Alcoholism. Same-sex romance and same-sex betrayal. Mean girls and mean boys. And I would add more but - six days since I watched the final episode - I'm getting myself depressed all over again.

At its core Mare of Easttown is a character study of Mare (Kate Winslett) whose life has gone to crap but who struggles ahead, one day at a time. And Ms. Winslett does it great. With a Pennsylvania accent she's got just right, she plays the smartest cop in town, assigned to solve what might be one, or multiple homicides. You will like her very much. Even when she does wrong (intentionally) we will give her some slack; her overall intentions were good. She's holding together four generations (including her mother played by Jean Smart), all living in the same house. She also holds together the town - Easttown - this point, in fact, mentioned by one of the characters.

So why only six stars? Because less is more. Less tragedy, few tragedy-riddled characters and situations. There are so many, and they come on so fast, that I found myself laughing and shaking my head in disbelief. Which, I assume, is not what the director wanted.

Finally this is a 'who done it'. And that alone might be reason enough to watch all seven episodes. And if watching for that reason brings on a higher appreciation of Ms. Winslett's work, all the better.