Saturday night saw BBC viewers tuning in to the first episode of Moonflower Murders, a sequel to Magpie Murders. The audience was delighted as Lesley Manville reprised her role as detective Susan Ryeland, albeit with a significant change in her life circumstances. No longer an editor, Susan is now managing a quaint hotel in Crete, though it's evident she's not entirely content.
The new series begins at a countryside wedding in England, which takes a dramatic turn when a housekeeper interrupts the speeches, her hands covered in blood. A murder has taken place, and fast-forwarding eight years, we see Susan's life is far from tranquil. She receives a visit from the parents of the bride featured at the start of the episode, who reveal their daughter has disappeared.
Their daughter had read a murder mystery loosely based on the crime committed on her wedding day, and she believes the wrong person was arrested after noticing something in the book, reports Lancs Live . Since Susan edited the novel, the parents are convinced she can identify the same clue in the book as Cecily did and determine her whereabouts and who abducted her. This leads to the show alternating between scenes from the book playing out in Susan's mind and real-life events as she attempts to solve the mystery.
As the drama unfolded, viewers couldn't resist flocking to Twitter to heap praise on actress Lesley Manville for her performance. One fan commented: "Anything Lesley Manville is in does be absolutely brillia.