Murder on Shetland - Season 3 - DVD

Content: By no means a quiet island routine: for Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez (Douglas Henshall) and his team, an explosive investigation is once again on the agenda: when Thomas Malone, sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Lizzie Kilmuir, is released after 23 years, Perez fears trouble may be brewing. After all, hardly anyone believes in Malone's innocence - even more so when, during a folk festival, young journalist Sally McColl (Amy Lennox) disappears and is found murdered a short time later. The murder of Sally, the daughter of the former chief investigator in the case of Lizzie Kilmuir, has clear parallels to the murder for which Malone was in prison. Naturally, he now comes under suspicion once again, but Perez doesn't believe the case is as clear-cut as it seems. And indeed, there is soon a new lead that leads all the way to Norway. However, Perez does not yet suspect that he will also be very personally involved in the case.

Season 3 of the series Murder in Shetland tells, as in the previous season in six episodes, a story that remains exciting and involving from beginning to end, just because of the numerous twists and turns, but also because of the brief change of plot from the Scottish Shetland Islands to Norway. By the fact that the case becomes very personal for Perez, the whole thing gets an additional explosiveness, which also makes some small lengths quickly forgotten. Especially in this aspect the makers succeed very well in not making the whole thing seem too contrived. Rather, this plot is comprehensible and very rousing built, which gives this season in some moments a high emotionality.

Once again it becomes clear that murder on Shetland belongs to the pearls of the international crime landscape. How here a classic murder case is expanded more and more and leads the investigators to the radical right-wing scene in Norway, is simply very well crafted. Add to that the good actors - especially Douglas Henshall - as well as the atmospheric images and you have a more than worthwhile portion of exquisite crime thriller enjoyment. Certainly, the wheel is not reinvented here. And here and there the series also falls a little bit into the cliché trap. But that doesn't detract from the high quality of the production in the slightest.

It's difficult to praise (or criticize) certain aspects of the season without giving away too much about the plotline and some well-placed surprises. So here's what I can say: If you liked the first seasons of Murder on Shetland, if you value atmosphere and well-drawn characters more than fast-paced action, and if you generally appreciate high-calibre crime fare that can be a little darker at times, you'll get your money's worth here. A very good season that you should not miss!

Picture + Sound: At the image and sound quality of the series has changed little compared to the previous seasons. Atmospheric coloring and decent overall sharpness create an all-around positive overall impression. The sound is rather restrained, with the powerfully mixed dialogue being repeatedly supported by well-used ambient sounds. All in all, the audiovisual implementation is on a good TV level!

Extras: Bonus material has the DVD set unfortunately not to offer.

Conclusion: Murder on Shetland tells an extremely exciting story in the new season, which becomes very personal for Jimmy Perez in more ways than one. This circumstance and the extension of the events to Norway underline once again that the series is one of the very big crime highlights of the current series landscape. An exciting story, great actors and a very engaging imagery provide about six hours of best entertainment! On the DVD, Murder on Shetland is once again presented in good picture and sound quality, but there is no bonus material for this season either. Nevertheless, this box is again: absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp