First Look: ‘The Marlow Murder Club’ — a PBS Masterpiece in 2024!


Cara Horgan as Becks Starling, Samantha Bond as Judith Potts, and Jo Martin as Suzie Harris Credit: PBS Masterpiece

Production of the TV adaptation of Robert Thorogood’s novel The Marlow Murder Club is well underway with a few ‘first look’ pics coming our way. While you might not immediately know the name Robert Thorogood, you will definitely know his most recent efforts as the creator of Death in Paradise. Alongside Thorogood for TMMC will be Monumental Television, the producers of the award-winning British comedy series Ghosts.

Samantha Bond (Downton AbbeyHome Fires) takes the lead role in The Marlow Murder Club as retired archaeologist Judith Potts, alongside Jo Martin (Doctor WhoBack to Life) as Suzie Harris, Cara Horgan (The SandmanTraitors) as Becks Starling and Natalie Dew (SandylandsThe Capture) as DS Tanika Malik.

Samantha Bond as Judith Potts Credit: UKTV / Robbie Gray

After over a decade of working on Death in Paradise, I’m thrilled to be creating a brand-new murder mystery series for TV. I can’t wait for audiences to join Judith, Becks and Suzie on their adventures as they solve a series of fiendishly puzzling murders,” said Thorogood.

In The Marlow Murder Club, in case you are unfamiliar with Thorogood’s 2021 novel, when murder strikes the quiet riverside town of Marlow, Judith Potts (Bond), who lives alone in a faded mansion in the peaceful town of Marlow filling her time by setting crosswords for the local paper, feels compelled to solve the whodunnit at hand.

Town of Marlow on the River Thames in Buckinghamshire, England. Photo: PBS Masterpiece

It seems that during one of her regular wild swims in the Thames, Judith hears a gunshot coming from a neighbor’s garden and believes a brutal murder has taken place. When the police are reluctant to believe her story, Potts begins to uncover a series of puzzling clues as she comes to rely on the help of other local women to investigate the case: Suzie Harris (Martin), a local dog walker and empty nester; Becks Starling (Horgan),  an unfulfilled vicar’s wife; and DS Tanika Malik (Dew) as they start an investigation of their own.

The Marlow Murder Club. Photo: PBS Masterpiece

Eventually asked to assist with the official police investigation, headed by newly promoted DS Tanika Malik, the women must piece together clues, grill suspect witnesses, and face down real danger as they work against the clock to stop the killer in their tracks.

Natalie Dew as DS Tanika Malik Credit: UKTV / Robbie Gray

Given the fact that filming has begun, a PBS broadcast on Masterpiece shouldn’t be too far away in 2024.


In: Mystery