By Anne Brodie
The moodiest of moody murder mysteries, the original series Shetland now on BritBox enters its tenth season with the deeply shocking murder of an elderly woman on a remote, isolated island farm. Septuagenarian Eadie (Maria MacDonell) is found dead by neighbour Colin, a gruesome outdoor scene in full view of the surrounding empty lands. Tulloch had been bound and strangled with heavy ropes the kind used in the local fishing industry, and left in place for several days. DI Ruth Calder (the versatile Ashley Jensen) and empathetic DI Alison ‘Tosh’ McIntosh, (Alison O’Donnell) are called in and immediately suss out her two sons, one estranged, both living far away. Then neighbours who routinely came by with food and to check on her. Someone said they saw a young person in a hoodie on her property the night before. Eadie had a reputation for bluntness that rubbed locals the wrong way and it was assumed she was poor but she had 400k pounds in the bank. The DIs turn their attention to local lad David (Stephen McMillan) a troubled teen with a prison record unaware he and Eadie were close friends. Her jewelry was found under his bed, but he says she gave it to him. Looks bad but he seems gutted that she was treated so brutally and killed. A woman who lived not far from Eadie then sets her house on fire. All this, scrupulously well knit and played out in under an hour makes for classic, engaging mystery, set against the brutal beauty of the island. It’s atmospheric magic and that signature score that gets under your skin. A superior series. Ep 1 available now, Ep 2 Jan. 8