SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for A Taste for Murder Season 1, Episode 1.

The premiere of A Taste for Murder is a lot like an appetizer. It’s not the most exciting dish on the menu, but it makes you look ahead to what’s coming. The show comes to BritBox with a solid cast, and at only an hour long, the first episode is just lengthy enough to create interest without viewers having to follow too much. Think of it as a shorter Midsomer Murders with food.

Episode 1 is very much a pilot, in that it never loses the sense of exposition, having to explain who the characters are, who they are to each other, and why any of this matters. In fact, the backstory and the family subplot are more prominent in this episode than the whodunit. That might throw some viewers who are used to more case-heavy mystery shows, but it’ll be a welcome change of pace for others. The cast, however, makes the pacing less of an issue because they quickly create the sense of family that A Taste of Murder relies on.

At the core of every good British crime drama is the casting. So many of the best shows are built around one or two strong leads, who serve as the engine of the series. A Taste for Murder has Warren Brown, in a departure from many of the gritty roles he’s known for. It’s refreshing to see him get some lighter material after darker roles in other crime dramas like Trigger Point and The Responder. Brown is incredibly good at playing tortured souls, but he’s at his best when he gets to be the hero and let his personality shine through—and this show puts him front and center. His character DCI Joe Mottram still comes with baggage; the death of Joe’s wife Sofia is the catalyst for the series and the ongoing personal subplot. But aside from the flashback that reveals the circumstances of her death, nothing here ever feels too weighty.

Instead, Episode 1 actually spends a fair amount of time early on establishing Joe as a regular guy who just happens to have a tragic past to get over. His teenager daughter Angelica, played by The Crown‘s Beau Gadson, is so glued to her phone that Joe has to get her attention via text. His in-laws welcome him to their restaurant on the island of Capri and fret over whether or not he’s taking care of himself. He just happens to see the local police investigating a death in the harbor and of course, gets himself involved.

The A Taste for Murder premiere’s only real job is to explain why Joe is going to spend the rest of the season solving crimes, and it does that in a straightforward way. The sous chef at his in-laws’ restaurant is the prime suspect in the first murder, giving Joe a personal reason to meddle in the case. What’s refreshing is that the dialogue between him and the actual investigator, Lara (portrayed charmingly by Cristiana Dell’Anna). never feels too banter-y. They go through the expected motions of feeling one another out yet the script doesn’t make her overly snarky or dismissive, and Joe never comes across as knowing more than she does. It’s nice not to go through that formulaic banter that viewers know means little anyway as the characters will end up becoming partners.

Due to the episode’s relatively short run time (this is a good half-hour quicker than most British crime dramas), the whodunit in A Taste for Murder Episode 1 is also somewhat easy to figure out. Viewers know who the murderer can’t be, and from there can whittle down the suspects. But that’s not the intent of this show. It’s more of a family drama around which people keep getting killed, and in that sense it succeeds. Episode 1 gets the audience ably invested in Joe and his personal story, and also solves a murder. Plus, there’s a recipe in the middle of it. That’s more than enough to bring people back to the dinner table.

A Taste for Murder streams Tuesdays on BritBox. Photo Credit: Courtesy of BritBox.

Article content is (c)2020-2026 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.