Kate Winslet: cop, American, grandmother.

The latter is the biggest surprise in Mare of Easttown, a new limited-series on HBO Max. Winslet plays Mare Sheehan, a stressed-out detective sargent in Easttown, a fictional town in southeastern Pennsylvania. She lives in a cramped house with her extended family, including her mom, (Jean Smart) her daughter, (Angourie Rice) and the four-year-old boy who is the child of her late son.

Mare is weighed down by everything: the burdens of her family, the demands of her job, including the unsolved disappearance of the daughter of a friend, and other relics of her past that seem only to taunt her by reminding her of present failures. Her ex-husband is remarrying a younger, fresher model while she hooks up with a has-been writer she meets while celebrating her long-past high school glory days. Even the sky, perpetually gloomy and chill, seems to press down upon her.

The first episode of the series sets up Mare’s new case; the killing of a young single mom, whose impending demise is telegraphed early on; it’s clear that this sweet, attractive young woman with no connections (seemingly) to the rest of the cast is not going to make it to episode two. And this being HBO Max, the nude young woman’s crime scene is artfully composed for maximum titillation – grim reality is not on display here.

Most of Mare of Easttown feels familiar, with oft-used tropes like an unsolved crime, unending family drama, and a jaded detective who is pressured to solve everyone’s problems. What distinguishes this show is its female focus; women are not just victims and girlfriends here – they form the foundation of the town, whether at home or at work.

Mare’s policing style is more Ann Landers than Dirty Harry; she’s here to help people you’d expect her to arrest, which is refreshing, if a little unbelievable these days. Her male subordinate nearly faints at the sight of blood while Mare soldiers on after rolling her ankle chasing a perp.

Relationships between Mare and the women in her life – her daughter, her mother, her best friend Lori, (Julianne Nicholson, Eyewitness) are key elements in the story. Her nemesis, if the story has one, is the mother of the missing girl whose cold case is getting Mare in hot water on the job. Though the show cast Guy Pearce (Jack Irish) as Mare’s love interest and future episodes will feature Evan Peters (WandaVision) as a detective Mare must partner with to solve the newest murder, this is not a male-centered drama.

Though it starts promisingly, it remains to be seen if letting the women’s stories drive the narrative is enough to elevate the show above the ordinary. Mare of Easttown is a seven-episode limited series, airing Sunday nights on HBO Max.