'Ridley's "Hospitality" Extends to Making Friends with Murderers

Ridley continues to go hard on the jazzy aspect of the show, with an opening murder set to the background music playing at my local Starbucks this morning. That melds so gently into the opening credits I forgot to hit the "Skip Intro" button. Not to worry, there's a body within five minutes, laid out among the windmills, probably the "Gabriela" who hotel maid Elena Mondelo (Pat Dynowska) was caught worriedly texting by housekeeping boss Janet Venables (Jacqueline Boatswain). But that will have to wait because Ridley first has to melt back into memories of his late wife and daughter, who were apparently in the bottom of his whiskey glass and the reason he's restoring a boat.

Mallors: If it isn't the singing detective.

Ridley would rather tag along to crime scenes, dropping everything when Carol calls. DCI Goodwin tells Ridley he's on a rolling contract (Hourly? Day rate? Is Ridley a contractor paying quarterly taxes on this hobby?) and on a need-to-know basis. (I guess Ridley's finances are also on a need-to-know basis.) Dr. Newstone says the body could have been there for weeks, no ID, not even shoes, just flowers and a tattoo mark. DC Lakhan finds her ID (it is Gabriela) and summons Carol to report to the turbine owner Harry Graylish (Gerald Kyd), more worried about money than the body, who viewers saw partying in the intro as his wife Debs (Lucy Thatcher) looked on.