Ten down, four more. I approach each new adaptation of a thriller by Harlan Coben as part of his 14-book deal with Netflix as a weary traveler on a very long journey – determined to reach the final destination and grateful each time that we are getting closer to the end.

It was a funny old thing, this deal. The adaptations were produced in a manner reminiscent of the old studio system – quickly, efficiently, and apparently with all actors free at the time of casting and with little time to allow them to withstand scrutiny. Or perhaps they are more akin to the Catherine Cookson dramas that flooded television schedules in the ’90s, whose formulaic pleasure can still be found even when one is sick or otherwise in need of comfort (along with the chance to see today’s star actors in… embryonic form). ). Cobens are darker and gorier, but the promise is the same: viewers will get exactly what they wanted and go home satisfied.

So, at number 10 is the Coben Netflix project “Missing You”. Our protagonist is DI Kat Donovan (Rosalind Eleazar) – vivacious, good at her job, but terminally single since her fiancé Josh (Ashley Walters) left her without a word of explanation 11 years ago. Her father Clint, played by Lenny Henry, who was also a police officer, was murdered by a hitman, Monte (Marc Warren). Coben regular Richard Armitage is their boss, DCI Ellis Stagger (that’s his name in the book, so perhaps there was nothing to do). Donovan has two narratively important friends, private investigator Stacey (Jessica Plummer) and Josh’s former roommate and close friend Aqua (Mary Malone).

There is also a man (played by Rudi Dharmalingam) who runs for his life across the moors. Eventually, he’s caught, stripped, outfitted in an orange jumpsuit, and chained in a farm outhouse – which could probably be an esoteric spa experience or a corporate team-building outing, but on the whole, probably not. Then there’s a missing blonde woman (Lisa Faulkner); A prison nurse (Samantha Spiro – always so good at suggesting the everyday woman ready to snap at any moment) prepares to inject the hitman with some kind of truth serum that she apparently invented for Kat to use on his deathbed can ask about the murder of her father; Steve Pemberton effortlessly creates another terrifying weirdo that will give us all sleepless nights; and James Nesbitt, who hovers on the horizon as Monte’s boss. We really have a lot to do.

Which makes it all the stranger – especially when you consider the ever-driving source material – that it once again follows the flawed template that previous efforts followed. The first episode or two are mostly groundbreaking. Kat tells three different people the same information three times, even though we have so much to do! Stop it! We all understood the very simple point the first time that your boyfriend dumped you without warning. We don’t need to waste time with Stacey telling you/us, “He hurt you. Badly” still force the poor actor to go through horrible lines like, “You closed yourself off and turned off love like it was a hate crime.” We also don’t need people constantly saying, “Wait, say what you?” when what they said is completely clear.

Still, after the first few oddly repetitive opening episodes, the mission finds its way and things start to twist, turn and improve. Mysteries deepen, dire secrets are revealed, betrayals (or apparent betrayals) and revelations abound, and you’re completely hooked again. Ten minutes after the credits roll, you won’t remember anything, but that’s okay. You know the mystery was solved and you had fun. What more do you need?