Blue Murder (TV Series) Up in Smoke (2004) User Reviews

Astonishingly complex - and quite sordid

[gridoon2024 · 8/10 · 22 August 2011]

A young woman commits suicide; after her funeral and cremation, two men go missing: one is her husband, the other is possibly her lover. When evidence turns up that TWO bodies were cremated and not just one, DCI Janine Lewis and her team must find out who the second body belonged to, and where the killer is now.

"Up In Smoke" is a real jigsaw puzzle of a mystery. Just when you think you have it figured out, it takes you down a different path. And then another. It may get far-fetched at points, but this matters little when the result is so engrossing. It also touches on some very sensitive subjects - this one is definitely not for kids. *** out of 4.

Incorrect order listed for episodes #2 & #3

[repete52 · 9/10 · 8 February 2021]

This episode is actually #3 of Series/season #2. When watching the episodes, Fragile Relations is viewed 2nd; then Up In Smoke appears 3rd.

Up in Smoke

[Prismark10 · 7/10 · 10 August 2022]

Charlotte is a lady who has apparently committed suicide. Later her husband confronts her lover and both men have disappeared.

Charlotte's father runs a funeral firm. There is suspicion that both men were cremated.

It seems Charlotte and her lover knew each other many years ago. Her father disapproved of their relationship as Charlotte was still underaged.

DCI Lewis and DI Mayne are drawn into a complex past.

There was a nice touch of how dull police research can be. DS Butchers had to get through hours of cctv footage.

This was a dark story and had more than just extra bodies getting cremated.

I did figure that the father would be more involved, especially as the precise nature of the relationship of Charlotte and her former lover becomes more clear.

The police were certainly slow trying to come to Lewis's rescue once she found herself in danger.

This is the best story of Blue Murder so far. It seems the producers finally found their footing.

Don't believe undertakers

[Dr_Coulardeau · 10/10 · 13 June 2008]

Another social situation, a crematorium mind you. Fascinating though horribly morbid, especially when you find out that there seems to be a few more bodies that got burnt than the official count. We know how the missing people, or bodies ended in flames. The point is to find who did it. Nearly easy to suspect it. But the trick here is the sordid reason why a plain love affair turned into a tragedy. Early teen pregnancy, an adoption and then imagine twenty years later when two people fall in love and discover one day they are mother and son. A mountain of guilt explodes out of the earth and then submerges the actors of the tragedy with a volcanic explosion. Everyone gets either burnt or at least singed. A marvelous trashy mess in which we live without knowing about it.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines