The Marlow Murder Club

I haven't read the original books but decided to watch the show anyway, especially when I saw Samantha Bond as the main lead - I find her to be a wonderful actress. At first I struggled a bit to find interest in the plot line as it was quite stagnant and there were constant dead ends that began to put me off of watching it altogether. Majority of the acting was well done though which turned me away from turning off the show! It was all very natural and most of the actors did a wonderful job bringing their characters to life. There were however certain parts where I slightly disliked both the dialogue and mannerisms of a couple of the actors but in the end, it didn't bother me too much. By the second part of the story I became a lot more interested by the sudden plot twists and the pace that the story was now going. It definitely picked up near the end of the show, as the plot was finally coming together which made the ending very satisfying. I don't watch modern murder mysteries often (between 2020 and present time) as I find that they can sometimes be very lost in translation from the original books that they're originally based on, so I didn't have high expectations but was pleasantly surprised with The Marlow Murder Club! It's a very good show for both casual murder mystery watchers (like myself) and crime fanatics that like a gripping, intricate storyline.

I was expecting a flop, how wrong was I !! It was set in stunning scenery, the acting was pretty good and it made me giggle in places. The characters jumped out of the screen they were so realistic and it was nice to see a very British series, that shone as much as the sun that was beating down on Marlow at the time of filming. There were times that I was expected pots of jam to sail onto the screen accompanied with the coral sounds of Jerusalem, which would have made me smile even more. The only reason I gave it a 9 and not a 10 is because the ending, I felt was a bit cheesy. Here's hoping they commission another series.

The story is ok, or could have been, if there was some acceptable acting going on but there was none. Suddenly Samantha Bond forgot she was once a reasonably not so bad actress. Here her character's pensive pomposity is pathetic and stiff. Others are not much better. Writers do deserve a lot of blame, too. Actors may be just victims -- they simply have nothing to act; dialogue is beyond poor. It doesn't have to be a serious crime show to be at least somewhat plausible in terms of scenography and dramaturgy. What has happened to the British procedurals lately? How they've become so unbearably bad?

I knew nothing of the books so had no expectations at all. Samantha Bond is pretty much always an actor worth watching and that led me to give it a go. Jo Martin I only knew from Dr Who, so not much to go on there. The show is very much in the British groove of slower paced, gentle murder. It's a style that I enjoy very much for relatively unchallenging and 'pretty' crime. I thoroughly enjoyed both parts, the acting was, I thought, very good, the plot was strong enough and it did of course look suitably 'British' - or to be more precise, 'English'. Nothing wrong with that, England does have some very picturesque towns and villages. Less comedic than Father Brown and Sister Boniface, perhaps a little lighter than Midsomer Murders, I would happily watch more if they choose to make it. Good, watchable and enjoyable, but maybe never going to be amongst the greats, it's still miles better than so many other shows. If you're not sure, I'd certainly advise you to give it a go.