Last night I binged on all four episodes of The Marlow Murder Club, one of the happiest three hours I ever spent in the past couple of years. To begin, I love Samantha Bond, whom the BBC for years stuck in libidinous or what I'd call "woman of the world" roles. In Mansfield Park she played the sister wh leaves her husband to run off with the villain Henry Crawford, on Midsomer Murders she was a nasty lady colluding with her boyfriend to kill her husband, in Lark Rise to Candleford she was a romantic threat, and she's always wonderful. Now in her early 60s, she's still beautiful, still a lady with a past, but smart, sassy, energetic, and you want a heroine to be. Her two cohorts match her in every way, and the three women, along with the actress playing the investigating detective keep the plot boiling and still charming and often funny. It was grerat to see Rita Tushingham, whom I don't think I've seen since the 1960s, as a gossipy neighbor. I really enjoyed it.
