One of the best of the series if not without flaws.
Most of the good points are those that make the series as a whole enjoyable: Roy Marsden's marvellous portrayal of Dalgliesh; interesting relationships, characters, and motives that turn out not to be what was first thought; an interesting situation (a curious care home driven by an ethos based on the religious conviction of its founder whose staff are as screwed up as the inmates) providing the enclosure that is essential for a good who dunnit; and atmospheric use of locations (the tower by the sea and the over-large country house cum care home).
Similarly the main weaknesses here occur in some other stories in the series: relatively little light and shade among the character set and (gloomy failures are fine but a few brighter, shallower characters would help to vary the dramatic palate); and little forensic science applied to the solving of murders (some of the series's murderers would be banged up in five minutes if Dr Laura Hobson got a look at the body).
The stand out performance after Marsden here is Pauline Collins as a boozy, rational, emotional, witty, sad, cheerful, deliciously sexy, loving, not-loving wife. Collins is an absolute mistress of controlling the pace and air of a scene and of giving a character three different believable faces within a few lines without a hint of trying.
Martin Jarvis also gives a deceptively multi-layered performance as the head of the care home; the part could easily have been written for him as it makes good use of his tortured whimsical air.
The ending is a little mundane but I can forgive that after a pretty gripping six episodes.
This is a beautifully-done piece of slow, thoughtful whodunnitism - a type of drama that is, sadly, no longer available on TV.
