The Good Ship Murder

Its a syrupy and soapy confection that will appeal mainly to fans of the cosy crime genre. Shayne Ward and Catherine Tyldesley play the amateur sleuths chasing murderer's at sea.

Yes its a bit naff and won't win any awards but it does what it says on the tin. Its an escapist show with nice scenery and songs. The sharpest things about it was probably Shayne Ward's designer stubble.

On the negative side the plot had more holes than a fisherman's net and there was no chemistry between the leads.

If you like Agatha Raisin, Death in Paradise etc. Its worth a look - if you prefer more serious whodunnits it won't be your cup of tea.

A Luxury Mediterranean cruise ship sets sail, stopping at all the major destinations, but at each stop, murder, and on the case is former Detective now crooner Jack Grayling, and first officer Kate Woods.

If you're a fan of shows such as Mallorca Files, Shakespeare and Hathaway etc, I am sure you will enjoy this series. Don't expect anything too serious, and expect to be made to believe some rather impossible scenarios.

Gorgeous location work, it really does emphasise and make the most of The Med. I spent a fair bit of time in Malta, and I may be wrong, but did Malta double up?

Shayne Ward absolutely makes this series, he has that combination of being talented, likeable and charismatic, he really does help to make this show pretty good. Jack is a bit of a bad luck charm, he's The Jessica Fletcher of The Mediterranean, wherever he goes, murder follows.

Shayne's songs are really good, especially his version of True Faith by New Order.

Some nice guest performances along the way, and the regular cast are all very good.

As it stands series two has been commissioned, looking forward to that.

7/10.

Let's just say this up front - you will be continually suspending disbelief with this series. Way more than any other cozy mystery series you come across. Starting with it being a cruise ship, yet mostly empty. And that the ship's captain seems to spend most of the time...not captaining. And that the captain hangs out with guests on shore excursions. And of course all the murdering that takes place.

And those are just a few reoccurring examples. There are a seemingly endless parade of eye rolling scenarios packed into each episode.

With all this said...they are clean fun. If you turn your brain off, it's a decent time. Also good to fall asleep to.

First the good things: Shane Ward (who I had never heard of before) can sing and his acting actually isn't bad, especially given it isn't his first job. There are other decent actors in the cast too. The show also gets extra points for - as far as I can tell - using the real locations and for including some characters who at least try to speak languages other than English. Last time I looked, Madame Blanc, for example, hadn't even started trying to speak French!

But that's about it. The plots are a bit average, some are better than others and as has been pointed out the involvement of Jack, Kate & the rest of the ship-board characters in the crimes isn't really credible. However, this is NOT the only TV crime drama that stretches credulity like this, especially at the moment.

This is not great, ground-breaking telly, but there's nothing really wrong with it. It's lovely to look at and it actually doesn't always shy away from the realities of life - episode 3 is particularly good here.

It's a perfectly nice way to spend a winter evening.

It is a nice cosy murder mystery and you get to see other European countries. The locations chosen remind me of a trip to Europe.

The music is nice. The actor sings beautifully. And the music matches the vibe of the show.

With respect to how she is able to work on crimes, maybe it is her day off or something. Tv shows are escapism and this is cute escapism.

Would love to have some other recommendations for the cosy murder mysteries other than Death in Paradise, Harry Wild, Mrs. Marple, Ms Sidhu Investigates, My Life is Murder. I must say love me some Acorn TV and Britbox they provide such good recommendations.