Writers: Simon Barnard & Paul Morris
Format: Audio
Released: April 2014
Series: Jago & Litefoot 7.03
Featuring: Jago, Litefoot
Synopsis
Jago and Litefoot visit Moorsey Manor, hoping to get help from the only man who can help them clear their names.
They arrive at a gathering of Sherlock Holmes fans, who are mourning the death of their idol at Reichenbach Falls.
Then death arrives at Moorsey Manor, in the most ingenious of ways...
Verdict
Murder at Moorsey Manor was another great episode to continue my way through the seventh series of Jago and Litefoot! The old murder mystery adventure is always a fun one and I think Jago and Litefoot are perfect for it with their chemistry and respective skills in deducing who may be the culprit. They were still on the run and I enjoyed the continuity from The Monstrous Menagerie with them heading for Willis as a potential means of clearing their name. I was very surprised to see him as one of the murder victims very early on! Jago’s reaction to that was hilarious as he didn’t actually seem awfully concerned about the fact a man had died but rather that he’d now lost the means of proving his innocence. He really was quite distraught! I thought the Moorsey Manor setting was very good and perfect really for a murder mystery. I thought the humour regarding the gathering being essentially a mourning service for Sherlock Holmes was decent, but perhaps maybe a little overkill in terms of the continuity from the aforementioned series opener. Now, I may just be ignorant here but would a fictional character really have that much of an impact? Hearing Jago try and dance around the fact they had no idea what was going on or who even the ‘great man’ that was being mourned was made for good entertainment. Litefoot was on hand to smooth things out which was good and the pair embraced their guises very well. What they didn’t know was that they weren’t the only ones under a false moniker. I thought the characters that featured and were slowly killed off were very good and complimented the story nicely. The likes of Woolley and Fanshaw didn’t last overly long with the former’s story of historic family death as the clock struck two being quite shocking! The fate of Reginald Peacock was also rather brutal. I thought some more shock from Jago and Litefoot was warranted there but I guess now after seven series they have been through it all so this kind of stuff may not surprise them. I thought Fox was a really strong character and his survival proved crucial and actually very important to the direction of the series. The development of ‘Beatrice’ as the culprit responsible for the murders was very good and I loved the clockwork make up of the manor. It was unpredictable, as was she! Her reveal as Edwina Merridew was nicely done and the background about the clockmaker family and her dad being shunned by the Queen and going missing ever since was decent stuff. Edwina had built the house but she was clearly deranged as her reaction when Litefoot had hold of her father’s urn was psychotic! She even jumped after it off a cliff drop when Litefoot realised it was either him or her, so he had to send the bait. That was a surprising demise for a good villain. The psychotic ones always have the most brutal deaths. The tension building to finding the master clock that would save Jago from literally losing his head. The excitement Edwina had for that and wanting to watch it happen was disturbing. Fox working out that the master clock was the insignificant one to everyone else except Edwina’s father was great and him admitting that it was just an educated guess was fun stuff. Jago got very lucky! The reveal at the end was a huge surprise though as he revealed himself to actually be a chief inspector called Abberline. And he was prompt in arresting both Jago and Litefoot as he obviously knew their disguises were just that. Overall, a great listen and a strong setup for the finale!
Rating: 8/10
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