Created as a vehicle for Caroline Quentin. Blue Murder is set in Manchester and features Quentin as DCI Janine Lewis.
She has recently been promoted, is pregnant, already has a few kids and immediately her plans to celebrate her promotion with a champagne breakfast with her husband goes awry. She catches him in bed with another woman.
Now Janine is a single mother balancing work life and a family life. Her team are tasked to investigate the death of a deputy headmaster found stabbed in his allotment.
There are three suspects including a former school pupil who had an altercation with the victim and the dead man's wife who is behaving slightly offstandish.
Janine suspects that the dead man might have been having an affair.
Not only is their turmoil in Janine's life, her boss has put her under pressure to solve the case as quickly as possible.
The first episode was flatly directed and too long. A leaden pace did not help and it had all the appeal of the normal Manchester weather.