'The Marlow Murder Club's Final Season 2 Case Finds Clues "Sailing Close to the Wind"

Marlow is not just a hotbed for murder but has now become an archaeological zone of interest. Judith got her bushes and tools back out to help dig up 1500-year-old fossils in town after a neighbor discovered an ancient sword with his metal detector. You'd think it would be enough for Judith to consider if she's really ready to be retired, but of course, there is another murder to solve! So, The Marlow Murder Club is back on the case. 

This latest victim is 34-year-old Kit Harcourt, whose body was found at the Marlow Sailing Club. Initially, it looks like Kit was taken out by an errant boom on his sailing boat after trying to take it out in gusty weather. Luckily for the police, Judith is given access to drone footage of her dig site, which is located across the river from the Marlow Sailing Club. The drone was blown over the river shortly after Kit's murder took place and showcases a mysterious person untying the boom from Kit's boat and leaving the man for dead on the ground. Becks also spies a sailing bag not far away in the water that is sent downstream with the wind. 

With the drone footage indicating foul play, or at the very least failure to report a murder, it is all hands on deck to figure out who murdered Kit Harcourt, and everyone has their part to play. The clock is ticking as Judith, Becks, Suzie, and Tanika work the latest case.

The first two people interviewed by police about Kit's death are the Sailing Club Commodore James Wyckham (Dominic Mafham) and member Ursula Liddington (Elizabeth Bennett). While James says that Kit was a recent, but beloved, member of the club, Ursula is cagey when Tanika questions her about Kit's reputation. Ursula is similarly jumpy when the ladies ask her a few questions, but she's a member of the church, so Becks gets a second crack at her later on. 

Ursula arrives at the church to help with a charity dinner, but is also there to clear her conscience. It was announced the previous night that Kit Harcourt would be taking over as vice commodore of the club, forcing Gregg Cooper to step down. Gregg felt that Kit had set him up, and Ursula saw the two get into a physical argument over the announcement, explaining why Kit had defensive markings on his face when his body was discovered. Becks asked if Ursula thought Gregg could be capable of murder, and she confessed that after the fight she saw, she couldn't rule it out. 

That makes Gregg high up on the people of interest list, but the police couldn't find him at home or reach him by phone. It's Judith's investigation that helped with that part of the puzzle. Judith took the job of finding the sailing bag that floated away while the mystery person on the drone footage messed with Kit's boat. She tracked the bag down river and found Gregg Cooper's phone and other personal belongings inside, confirming that he was at the sailing club at the time of the murder, and it explains why the police could not track him down. Gregg looks guiltier by the second. However, he's not the only one of interest to the police. 

Suzie has a good friend, Jackie Tynham (Camilla Beeput), with strong ties to the boating club, who takes the train that passes by early in the morning. She checks in with her to see what she knows about Kit Harcourt and whether she saw anything on her morning commute. Jackie says that the only person she saw was Gregg Cooper (Ewan Bailey), the vice commodore, whom she usually sees around the club, so it didn't register as strange.  

Jackie has much stronger feelings about finding out that Kit was the one murdered. Apparently, he accused her father of stealing money from the club where he ran the members' bar. The accusations forced him to resign, and Jackie's father, Harry (James Gaddas), thinks that Kit deliberately set him up. He hasn't handled the loss of his job and ostracism by the boat community well. 

That means there are two people with motive to kill Kit Harcourt and more corroborating evidence that the investment banker was not well-liked around the club. Unfortunately, the case got even more complicated at the end of the episode. 

James Wyckham pays a visit to Harry Tynham at the end of the episode to check on some boat repairs that Harry was doing for him. When he finds Harry's shop empty, he takes a look under his boat to check Harry's progress and calls out when he hears someone else enter the shop. We don't see who arrives, but James is squashed by the boat falling off its stand before he can crawl out, adding a second body to the case. 

Was it Harry getting back at James for believing Kit and having him step down from his role at the club? Was it Gregg Cooper finishing off loose ends after losing the vice commodore gig? Was it the kid from Suzie's favorite pub who was acting very shifty and nervous when she stopped in for a cup of tea and told his mother about the investigation? Or was it someone not even on our radar yet? And what does all this murder have to do with the stolen engines from the sailing club store room that went missing three hours before Kit's death?

There are a lot of loose ends at the midpoint for this case, and to make things even more stressful, there's a clock hanging over Tanika and the Marlow Murder Club's heads. Tanika, acting supervisor of the investigation team, is convinced that the full-time DS is returning from sick leave. If that happens, she'll be off the case, and the MMC will likely be reinstated to citizen status. Tanika and the ladies are determined to figure this case out before that happens, but there's a lot to untangle before they get to the end of this one. 

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.