The Lions of Nemea (2)

The partnership has settled into something like normality, which is usually the moment the show throws a corpse at it. Rose Anderson, the American classics student, is hauled from the canal with wounds to the neck and abdomen, and the brutal manner of her death leaves no room for ambiguity. DS Maddox, now established as part of the team, gets her abilities properly tested.

Suspicion settles quickly on Felix Garwood, an astrophysics professor who recently broke off an affair with Rose. The complication is immediate and uncomfortable: Felix is married to Philippa Garwood, who happens to be Rose's supervisor. A jilted lover or a jealous wife, the episode offers both possibilities and lets the investigation earn its answer. The net spreads over everyone who knew Rose, and the academic surface starts to crack.

But the canal gives the episode its cold centre, a body in the water that keeps the investigation honest. The team's growing ease with each other is the counterweight, Maddox earning her place the hard way, and the affair at the heart of the case resolves into something more ordinary and more cruel than anyone expected.

Colin Dexter, Tahsin Guner and Nicholas Hicks-Beach wrote it, and Nicholas Laughland directed. John Light plays Felix Garwood, Andrea Lowe is Philippa Garwood, Alisha Bailey plays Rose Anderson, Angela Griffin takes DS Lizzie Maddox, Kitty Rich plays Tabby Brightway, Sian Brooke is Jennie Brightway, Jason Done plays Paul Brightway, Ian East takes Richard Vanbrooke, Clare Holman plays Dr Hobson and Rebecca Front appears as Ch Supt Innocent. Kevin Whately and Laurence Fox lead.

The affair at the centre of the case gives the episode its engine, professional jealousy and personal betrayal running on the same track. The investigation is grim and methodical, and the team's growing rapport provides a counterweight. Rose's murder, the episode makes clear, was not random. Someone in her small world wanted her gone.