A Professional Murder Shocks a Country Village in 'The Marlow Murder Club' Premiere

It's a terrible world we live in when a mature woman can't enjoy a nice skinny dip after finishing her crossword puzzle without overhearing her neighbor being murdered. That's how Judith Potts (Samantha Bond) begins the premiere of The Marlow Murder Club. When her neighbor, Stefan Dunwoody, doesn't reply after Judith hears the gunshot during her mid-afternoon swim, she immediately calls the police and watches them do a lackluster investigation.

The idea of a murder in the quaint country village of Marlow seems beyond the local police's comprehension, but Judith knows what she hears. She returns to Mr. Dunwoody's property and does her own investigation, uncovering the bullet casing from the murder weapon (a Nazi handgun from Munich), and finds Mr. Dunwoody's body dumped in the river. He was shot point-blank in the head, which confirms this was a deliberate homicide.

After watching the police fumble the initial investigation, Judith continues to take matters into her own hands. She tracks down Stefan's assistant, Antonia (Eleanor Nawal), who reveals that her boss recently got into an argument with the auction house manager, Elliot Howard (Daniel Lapaine). Judith's follow-up meeting with Elliot only serves to convince her that he's definitely involved in Stefan's murder, even if he has an airtight alibi of being at choir practice with the new vicar, the mayor, and about 20 other people. However, he's very rude to both Judith and his wife Daisy (Juliet Howland), which means we strongly dislike him even if he's not guilty of murder.