Episode 1

It is New Years Eve but celebrations are put on hold. The wife of a prominent tycoon Aaron McCormack has been found stabbed to death. There was a message left behind written in lipstick.

Aaron had a recent public argument with his estranged brother Donald McCormack who is having financial problems with his own business.

Donald is a suspect but a man with a devil's mask soon attacks him and a message in lipstick is also left behind.

Donald survives but it seems someone has a vendetta against the McCormacks.

A gruesome opening but Death in Paradise still manages the balance or murder, mystery, sunshine and humour. In this episode Jack Mooney tries to learn some dancing which causes havoc. There is also a beginning of a romance for him.

I don't think I've ever seen an episode of Death in Paradise begin with such a bang, it was like something from a horror film, a new direction for the often light mystery series.

That mask was gruesome looking, the horror undertones worked terrifically well here. Moments of silliness were at a minimum.

I thought Madeline was excellent, she has settled in incredibly well after starting off in somewhat prickly style. A terrific character. A great cast, Elliot Cowan, Ade Edmondson and Samuel West were great.

I've looked forward to this so much, it's been much publicised with the departure of Ardal, and they delivered, if it carries on in this form we're in for a treat.

I loved it, a very good mystery. 9/10

I've been a fan of Death In Paradise since the very beginning and have (for the most part) enjoyed all the episodes. We've had some great actors as guest stars, some great stories, beautiful scenery. But the introduction of Dwayne's replacement has seen the series spiral downwards. The character of Ruby Patterson is truly irritating and pointless. Every scene with her detracts from the enjoyment of the show. Since her introduction, I have lost all enjoyment of the show. Get rid of her and replace her with Harry the lizard. He's far more of a valued member of the team.

Good mystery: A murderer in a devil mask kills a businessman's wife and brother. But in the middle of the double murder investigation, Mooney and Dumas, the only detectives on the island!- take time out for an afternoon dance class! Awful. The slapstick couldn't save this. After solving the case, JP accepts Mooney's invitation to his dance class. JP shows up later without his wife, a gorgeous fashion model. JP's wedding was the climax of a great episode a few seasons back, but the doofus writers just tossed out his backstory- lazy writing. Getting tired of the music always being 60 years old.

While the characters themself are very much themselves, there is nothing much to complain about that.

The case, however, is bad. Apart from being rather obvious who commited the murder and how, the feeling that the authors thought themself to be clever cannot be escaped. Especially the resolution is really bad, as Mooney only shows how the prime suspect is not the murderer, he does not actually provide any evidence against the real murderer. Not a single piece of real evidence, apart from him telling how the crime was commited. And even him proving it was not the first suspect could easily countered by a good lawyer. In short, the idea was nice, but the resolution so bad, a backwater lawyer could bail the real murderer since there is not a single piece of evidence presented apart from a nice tale from the inspector.