The Scent of Darkness

Jane is happy in her relationship with Dr Patrick Schofield, which is probably why what happens next hurts so much. George Marlow is still in prison, and a series of murders is taking place that look exactly like his work. If they are his work, the man convicted of the previous killings is innocent, and Jane is left facing the possibility that justice has already miscarried once. She is suspended from the case almost before she can open her mouth. Being suspended does not stop her thinking; it only stops her being official. A series of murders like Marlow's means either a copy-cat or a terrible mistake, and both possibilities are bad for Jane.

George has always protested his innocence, and a book has been written to argue his case. But when Jane discovers that Patrick has read the book, the ground shifts. She begins to wonder whether he has been using their relationship for his own research, and the sense of betrayal stings more than the suspension. She needs to discover for herself whether George is genuinely innocent or whether these are copy-cat crimes, as she suspects.

Paul Billing wrote it and John Madden directed. Helen Mirren's Jane is joined by Beatie Edney as Susan Covington, Robert Glenister as Chris Hughes, Lesley Sharp as Anne Sutherland, Tracy Keating as Carolyn Norwood, Richard Hawley as DI Richard Haskons, Jack Ellis as DI Tony Muddyman, David Phelan as DC Pride, Graham Seed as the Doctor and John Benfield as DCS Michael Kernan.

The case may be off her desk, but the question will not leave her alone. If she is right about the copy-cat, a killer is walking free. If she is wrong, she has spent years hounding an innocent man. Either way, the price of certainty is one Jane has to pay herself.