'The Marlow Murder Club' Investigates What People Value in “A Murder on the Close”

There's no rest for the wicked or the inquisitive on The Marlow Murder Club. Our favorite amateur detectives have already solved the murder of Sir Peter Bailey (James Wilby) this season, but there's another dead body in Marlow, so they are back on the case. Our new mystery is a brutal one. A loan officer was found stabbed and walletless in the middle of a suburban cul-de-sac. 

Only two families remain on the close as developer Nina Sosanya's (Love Actually) Grace Wellingborough is working to turn the estate into a carbon-neutral development. The Butlers and the Wingroves are the last two hold-outs to Grace's plan, and their delay in letting her develop their plots may have evolved into a motive for murder. 

Judith (Samantha Bond), Becks (Cara Horgan), and Suzie (Jo Martin) are already making breaks in the case, but they also have some personal mysteries of their own. Judith is looking into her deceased great aunt's love life after the trio discovers a photo of the matriarch with a mysterious man Judith does not remember her Aunt Jess ever mentioning. Meanwhile, Becks is acting very suspiciously about her new art class, and more importantly, her very attractive art teacher, Daniel (Steve Chusak). 

There's a lot to unpack, so we'd better get to it. 

Our victim has no obvious ties to Marlow when the trio and DS Tanika Malik (Natalie Dew) discover he's a loan officer from Maidenhead. He arrives in town early, heads directly to the woods behind Grace's housing development, is promptly murdered, and then has his body moved to the center of the cul-de-sac by 8 a.m., where it is discovered by the Wingroves and reported to the police. 

Judith, Becks, and Suzie are alerted about the case from the community watchboard and immediately don their civilian consultant lanyards to help Tanika figure out leads. During their conversations with the Butlers and Wingroves, they discover that the neighbors were previously close but are now at odds. The Wingroves have also secretly taken one of Grace's settlements and plan to move to France to be closer to their daughter, who is set to give birth to their first grandchild in a few weeks. 

When the Butlers discover they've been set up as the last holdouts, even more drama erupts on the close. The throwdown tells Judith that something much more serious is going on between the neighbors than a disagreement about trash bins or neighborhood politics.  

The audience also sees Phil Wingrove (Patrick Robinson) dispose of a bloody knife in the neighborhood lake. Was it the murder weapon or something else suspicious? It puts him on the suspect list along with Dean Butler (Tom Fisher), whose small business is drowning in debt. Grace herself is behind on bills, making a loan officer a potential target as she tries to move forward with the development. 

However, the episode ends with the arrival of a second body. Grace discovers a discarded skeleton while digging up one of the lots. That's definitely not going to help speed up development and will add a whole new wrinkle to the case. 

Naturally, figuring out who killed our unfortunate loan officer is the top priority…but we are also very curious about Beck's extracurricular activities. The Vicar's wife bounces out early on the investigation for an appointment that was "too late to cancel." Becks has skipped out on a lot more important things than an appointment for an inquiry before, so that definitely piqued Judith and Suzie's interest. 

They are so keen to figure out what she's up to that they follow her to an evening art class at the local club and discover Daniel, a very attractive art teacher who encourages his students to listen to the "whispers of the universe." He checks in with Becks during class to ask if she's thought about "this morning," referring to the appointment he had with her, and she says no, she's happy. 

Obviously, we're meant to guess that Becks may be having an affair, but that seems too obvious. Instead, I'm betting on Daniel offering her a job, and Becks is hesitant to take on more responsibilities as the Vicar's wife. Regardless, there is something she's not telling Suzie or Judith, and I'm eager to discover how it will miraculously tie into the current murder investigation. 

So we've got two bodies (or a body and a skeleton), a mystery drama between the neighbors, and Beck's vague appointments to figure out in the next episode. And let's not forget about Aunt Jess and her secret lover! How many mysteries are too many mysteries at once for The Marlow Murder Club to tackle? Knowing this trio, the limit does not exist. 

The Marlow Murder Club Season 2 continues Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on most local PBS stations, the PBS app, and the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel. All six episodes of Season 2 are available for members via PBS Passport. Season 1 is also available for PBS Passport members; Season 3 has already been greenlit. Check your local listings.