A Taste for Murder sees man move to Italy, because his wife died… as you do.
And I’m wondering if what will also die is the ratings for this, because ITV haven’t bothered to advertise it at all – just dumped it in a midweek slot with zero fanfare, which is very telling. Even Warren Brown (The Gathering), as DCI Joe Mottram, looks bored to be there, as he arrives with daughter, Angelica (Beau Gadsdon – The Conjuring 4: Last Rites, The Railway Children Return).
Moody music tells us that evil blokes are onscreen, as they tuck into dodgy diamonds. It’s also a place where baddies have pinpoint gun-shooting accuracy in the dark, rather than waiting for their target to get closer, especially when they have what the shooter needs.
Along the way, cops find baddie bodies, while lead cop Inspector Lara Sarrancino (Cristiana Dell’Anna) doesn’t exactly have an Italian accent. Still, just because Joe’s also a cop, he takes an instant interest in this crimes that have nothing to do with him, at a time when he’s meant to be grieving, and begins to finagle his way into Lara’s knickers.
The location looks nice, so it’s just cozy crime abroad, like Death In Paradise, and the male/female investigating duo brings us into The Good Ship Murder‘s waters.
No expense was spent on the script, with everyone even wasting waste ten minutes of the episode cooking a meal, as if it’s Saturday morning TV; and since Ms Gadsdson is over 18, it’s okay for Dad to almost catch his daughter in the altogether after she’s been for a bath.
There’s also time for Dad and daughter to stand still, while the camera pans around them, daughter stopping with her jacket off the shoulders, posing for the camera; and as for who did the murders, I failed to care.
What a complete waste of time this is.
A Taste for Murder continues each Wednesday night on ITV at 9pm, and the whole series is available to stream on ITVX.
It’s not yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but when it is, it will be listed on the New DVD, Blu-ray, 3D and 4K releases UK page.
However, you can buy the novels in Hardback, and Paperback.
Director: Jon Jones
Producers: Megan Ott, Miodrag Sila, Nebojša Taraba
Novel/Creator/Writer: Matt Baker
Music: Stefano Cabrera
Cast
DCI Joe Mottram: Warren Brown
Inspector Lara Sarrancino: Cristiana Dell’Anna
Angelica Mottram: Beau Gadsdon
Gennaro Da Vinale: Urbano Barberini
Daniele Russo: Alessandro Bedetti
Elena Da Vinale: Phyllis Logan
Deputy Inspector Gianni Gallo: Marouane Zotti
Daria Solistano: Gaia Scodellaro
Commissario Curti: Pasquale Esposito
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.