THE MARLOW MURDER CLUB – Season 2 key art | ©2025 PBS

THE MARLOW MURDER CLUB is now in its second season Sunday nights on PBS, with episodes thereafter available on all PBS platforms, including Prime Video.

Created by Robert Thorogood, based on his series of mystery novels, THE MARLOW MURDER CLUB centers around three diverse women in the small – and real-world – town of Marlow in Buckinghamshire, England.

Cara Horgan plays Becks Starling, wife of the town vicar (Niall Costigan), who teams up with retired archaeologist Judith Potts (Samantha Bond) and dog-walker Suzie Harris (Jo Martin) to solve killings in their outwardly tranquil community. This causes consternation in Detective Sergeant Tanika Malik (Natalie Dew), who doesn’t appreciate amateurs invading her cases, although she develops respect for the trio as events unfold.

Season 1 of THE MARLOW MURDER CLUB explored a single case over four episodes. Season 2 has three separate crimes, each spread over two episodes apiece. The series has been renewed for a third season.

Horgan, who was born in southeast England, has appeared in many films and TV series. Some of her better-known credits include SILENT WITNESS, THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS, WAKING THE DEAD, THE DEATH OF STALIN, GENIUS (as Alice B. Toklas), WEST OF LIBERTY, TRAITORS (a period drama not to be confused with the reality competition series), ALEX RIDER, and THE SANDMAN.

Horgan gets on Zoom to discuss all things MARLOW MURDER CLUB.

First off, was she familiar with Thorogood’s novels before she became involved in the series?

“No, I wasn’t, actually,” Horgan replies, “I did know the writer, Robert, because he’s made other shows and crime thrillers, and this murder-y genre is very much what he’s known for, but I didn’t know the books themselves. But the second I got the audition, I read the first one in, like, a day. It’s a real page-turner. It’s really nice to have that source material to return to.”

How does Horgan describe Becks as a person?

“Becks is an interesting mix, really. She’s very good with people, she’s a real people person. As the vicar’s wife, she’s known amongst the community of Marlow, she’s always at church with them on Sundays, so she’s enquiring about their lives, and so she’s a trusted figure in society

“[This] makes her really useful for the Marlow Murder Club, because it means that she has a way in with lots of people. She can use her position as the vicar’s wife to get them into doors that they otherwise probably wouldn’t have access to.

“But also, by nature, she’s also very inquisitive, perfectionist, she’s got a real strong memory for detail. So, sometimes people will mention things to her in passing that seem kind of innocuous details about things, and she’ll remember those details, and they’ll be useful to the investigation later. So, she’s a good sleuth in that regard. She’s quite pernickety about the finite details of things.”

Horgan relates that she didn’t have to do a great deal of research in order to play Becks. “I read the books. She’s got kids, and I’m already a mother. I already know what it is to be responsible for a small human,” she laughs.

“I also know women like Becks. I don’t know women who solve murders, but I know women who are at the center of small towns in England, who know all of the gossip, know all of the people who run the baker’s shop, the bookshop, the doctor’s surgery.”

Jo Martin as Suzie Harris, Samantha Bond as Judith Potts, and Cara Horgan as Becks Starling in THE MARLOW MURDER CLUB – Season 2 | ©2025 PBS

THE MARLOW MURDER CLUB is shot in its namesake town.

“What’s really brilliant about Marlow,” Horman offers, “not only is it beautiful, it’s quintessentially very English, with its church and its river and its historic buildings and houses and parks and gardens. But it’s like a lot of small British towns in the U.K.

“So, I feel like, for our [U.K.] audiences, it’s beautiful but also very familiar. People know what those towns are like. And it’s a lovely place to shoot, because everywhere that you turn, every house, every location, is really like something out of a storybook – historic and roses in the gardens. So, we’re so lucky to shoot there.

“I wonder what it’s done to their tourism industry, because when shooting Season 2, all of the locals know who we are now, and so when the cameras are rolling and we’re shooting stuff in the street, everybody knows it’s for THE MARLOW MURDER CLUB.”

While Horgan has been a regular on other TV series, THE MARLOW MURDER CLUB is the first for which she’s returned for a second season. How is it retaining a character over that stretch of time?

“It’s great, because really, it’s in the hands of the writers. When we received the scripts for the second season, it was lovely to read how much they’ve developed Becks, played on what we had already, and then extended it to add different sides. It was really nice to have the opportunity to build on what we already created.”

The showrunners welcome the cast making suggestions, Horgan adds. “Fortunately, we’ve got the nicest executive producers on this. They’re just wonderful. And they do say, ‘Is there anything you’d particularly like to explore with Becks? Is there anything in particular that you’d like her to do?’

“So, I’m always thinking of things that Becks can explore. I really enjoy the physical sides of it. I love it when it leads to them running and getting themselves into little pickles, trying to get through windows and climbing over walls. But I’ve always got my eyes open for things that I could maybe bring to the table and see if the writers go for it, and they’re very open to that.”

Many TV series have largely, or at least half, leads who are played by men. How is it for Horgan to be working with leads who are fellow women?

“That was one of the first things that attracted me to the project, to be honest. I love the idea that we’re following a story that’s about three sleuths, the three women who solve the murders, and the head of the police is also a woman. But these women are not competing in any way. I read so many scripts where, when there are multiple women, they’re competing for the same goal, whether it’s a job or a man or something. And it was really refreshing to read something where the women are all heading towards the same goal, they’re not in competition with each other.”

Another aspect that immediately appealed to Horgan was the “multi-generational friendships. These are three women from different walks of life, of different ages, and they’ve become really good friends through this common interest of solving these crimes, and the age gap between them doesn’t stand as a barrier to their friendship. I thought that was quite unusual to see on television, and something that I think is important. I have friends of different ages, and it’s not reflected enough in TV.”

How is playing opposite Costigan as Becks’s husband Colin?

“He’s great. He’s really good fun. That’s the lovely thing about returning to a second season, is that you know each other now, so it makes it easier for the writers, I think. They can write to you, to your character, a bit more as they’re imagining your voice in their heads as they’re writing.

“With Niall and I, there’s more development – their life at home, what their domestic life is like outside of what Becks is doing with the rest of the Marlow Murder Club. Also, Niall’s character Colin knows that his wife is happier now that she’s found these women. Because I think there’s an element to Becks where, before she met Judith and became involved in Marlow Murder Club, she was happily plodding along and showing a brave face and doing what she needs to do, but deep down, she was bored just being the vicar’s wife. And so, I think Colin is really glad to see his wife happy and satisfied in that way.”

As a vicar’s wife, is there a spiritual element for Becks in what she’s doing?

“She is a religious person, and they do attend church every Sunday. I think that, because she is a pillar of society from a religious perspective, that brings with it the kind of the gravitas of being a person who believes in God, who has that moral compass. So, I certainly think it is an element to what she brings to the Marlow Murder Club.

There are moments in Season 2 – I don’t want to give too much away, but she is talking to a person who also has a spiritual life, and Becks can really relate to the fact that this person is guilty of a crime and has to answer to God. So, it definitely is present in the stories.”

Does Becks live in Horgan’s head between seasons, or is it a hard reboot each time production resumes?

“Well, I do other jobs in between, too, so she’s not present all the time, but occasionally something will remind me of her, or I’ll see someone around and I’ll think, ‘Well, she looks like a Becks,’ that kind of character.”

Horgan is greatly looking forward to Season 3. “It’s so exciting, the idea that these characters are coming back, because we can just develop them further, and it will be interesting to see what the writers have got up their sleeve for the future.”

With THE MARLOW MURDER CLUB now available on Prime Video, is it receiving more public attention? If so, how is that for Horgan?

“We are giving more interviews, which is really nice. And I’m just so delighted that the stories are getting out there, because I think they’re really fun and they have got a really wide audience. I’m often surprised at the kind of people that tell me that they’ve watched it. It’s great to see that we have a big young audience, and also older audience members. It’s really nice that it appeals to a wide variety of people. And so, the more people that see it, the better. I’m delighted.”

Horgan is working on other projects, “but unfortunately, I can’t talk about them yet. So, I sadly can’t say what they are. But it’s got busy, which is really exciting. So, hopefully you’ll see more of me out there at some point,” she laughs.

What would Horgan most like people to know about THE MARLOW MURDER CLUB?

“I would most like people to know that they should give it a go, and that I have found that even people who think that they don’t like crime or they don’t like cozy crime sit down to watch a little bit of it and end up watching the whole thing.

“So, I would say if you want to watch something that you can relax to that keeps you gripped, but that isn’t going to scare you, that is intriguing and gets you thinking, then definitely tune in. I think it’s a fun show that you’ll really enjoy.”

Finally, does Horgan happen to know what the annual murder rates are in the real Marlow?

“No, I don’t. I fear that if I look that up, I would feel less safe,” Horgan laughs. “I would imagine it’s pretty low. I hope so.”

Follow us on Twitter at ASSIGNMENT X
Like us on Facebook at ASSIGNMENT X

Article Source: Assignment X
Article: Exclusive Interview: Actress Cara Horgan on new PBS British mystery series THE MARLOW MURDER CLUB

Related Posts: