Master detective Benoit Blanc is back for his most satisfying case yet in "Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery," the third film in the successful whodunit franchise, and Hollywood's best modern approximation of an old-school Agatha Christie murder mystery series. (And yes, that includes the ongoing Hercule Poirot films, an actual old-school Agatha Christie murder mystery series.)

This time Blanc (Daniel Craig, loose as a goose) is summoned to upstate New York, where Jefferson Wicks, a tyrannical monsignor at a small community church played with fiery aplomb by a scarily good Josh Brolin, has been stabbed and killed in his parish. But not right away: We spend plenty of time getting to know Wicks, the members of his congregation and new priest Jud Duplenticy (Josh O'Connor) before Wicks is struck down.

Jud is sent to the church from Albany after he calls on his fighting background and cold cocks a deacon. Not the best move for his career prospects. Jud is not a violent man per se, but Wicks sees him as an immediate threat, and he works to dominate him immediately, oversharing in confessions about his habit of self-pleasuring, sparing no detail.

Wicks oversees the church with an iron fist, challenging his congregation with hard-line, heated sermons that often turn personal. Only his most dedicated followers remain, including local doctor Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner), borderline washed-up author Lee Ross (Andrew Scott), buttoned-up lawyer Vera Draven (Kerry Washington), former concert cellist Simone Vivane (Cailee Spaeny) and would-be politician Cy Draven (Daryl McCormack).

Glenn Close is Martha Delacroix, Wicks' dedicated assistant and the backbone of Our Lady of Perpetual Grace. Thomas Haden Church is the church's duty-bound groundskeeper, Samson Holt, who has long held Martha in the highest esteem.

We know as viewers that a murder is coming — it wouldn't be much of a "Knives Out" movie without one — and writer-director Rian Johnson has a ball putting all the pieces in place for this "perfectly impossible crime" to take place. The setup is excellent, and Johnson dresses up his world and his characters like his own personal chessboard.

Where 2022's "Glass Onion" was a little too cheeky and self-referential for its own good, "Wake Up Dead Man" finds the perfect balance between murder mystery and post-modern riff on a murder mystery, to the point where it's not a deal breaker when town police chief Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis) turns to Blanc and compares the goings on to a "Scooby Doo" case, and Blanc responds by giving his best "Scooby Dooby Doo!"

Johnson's script is tight and clever, and he allows "Challengers" breakout O'Connor to shine. O'Connor is the star of "Dead Man," working closely with both Brolin and Craig and carrying much of the movie on his shoulders. He is a smart, charismatic leading man, sincere and charming, and he finds the perfect tone for his character, somewhere between aw-shucks and determined. The guy's a star.

Everyone in this world is a suspect, of course — some more than others, frankly — but "Wake Up Dead Man" finds ways to cleverly invert the "Knives Out" formula without exhausting it. After "Glass Onion," it was looking like this franchise was close to hitting a wall of where it could go and how much it could sustain. But if "Wake Up Dead Man" is any indication, these movies could keep going on as long as Johnson wants to make them. Scooby Dooby Doo, indeed.

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'WAKE UP DEAD MAN: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY'

Grade: B+

MPA rating: PG-13 (for violent content, bloody images, strong language, some crude sexual material, and smoking)

Running time: 2:24

How to watch: In theaters Nov. 26, on Netflix Dec. 12

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