Mandy Patinkin gets his Poirot on in the trailer for Hulu's Death And Other Details

Honestly, they had us at “Mandy Patinkin is doing a riff on Poirot”: That’s one of the big takeaways, after all, from the trailer released today for Hulu’s new series Death And Other Details, which premieres on the streaming service on January 16. All the hallmarks of a classic Agatha Christie murder mystery are on display in the promo for the new show: A big boat full of very suspicious murder suspects; a loathsome victim just begging for a quick, mysterious impalin’; and, of course, Patinkin as world-renowned detective Rufus Coteworth, playing mentor to Violett Beane’s apprentice/suspect Imogene.

Created by Stumptown vets Mike Weiss and Heidi Cole McAdams, Death And Other Details looks to be very deliberately trying to scratch that Knives Out itch that’s been building back up again since Glass Onion came out last year, pairing an older detective with a young helper who’s also intimately wrapped up in the mystery. (In this case, because Beane’s Imogene broke into the victim’s room for a bit of vengeful property damage just before he was killed, implicating her heavily, but inaccurately, in the murder.)

Like we’re said, though, you pretty much had us at Patinkin; given his penchant for interesting oddball choices and affecting speech-making, its actually kind of surprising that, give or take a stint on Criminal Minds, Patinkin has never tackled this kind of role before. (We’re already imagining him doing a low-key, slightly self-effacing take on the classic parlor scene, and we can assure you that Imaginary Mandy Patinkin is absolutely killing it for the audiences in our brain.) In addition to Patinkin and Beane, the series also stars Linda Edmon, Jayne Atkinson, Lauren Patten, David Marshall Grant, and several other potential “J’accuse!” recipients.

Death And Other Details premieres January 16 on Hulu.