Rev. Robin Sage dies after eating a meal prepared by Juliet Spence, an expert herbalist who should know the difference between wild parsnips and deadly hemlock.Rev. Robin Sage dies after eating a meal prepared by Juliet Spence, an expert herbalist who should know the difference between wild parsnips and deadly hemlock.Rev. Robin Sage dies after eating a meal prepared by Juliet Spence, an expert herbalist who should know the difference between wild parsnips and deadly hemlock.
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Barbara Havers: Sir? How much did it cost?
[reaches into handbag]
Thomas Lynley: I don't think we should have this conversation in public.
[leads Havers to his office]
Barbara Havers: I don't believe you! I mean, how could you do that? You totally redecorated my house! I mean, who do you think you are interfering in *my life*?
Thomas Lynley: I didn't mean to upset you. I thought I was helping.
Barbara Havers: Oh! The Eighth Earl of Asherton patronizing the peasants!
[door knocks]
Barbara Havers: Go away!
Thomas Lynley: Come in!
Uniformed Police Officer: [enters and hands a folder to Lynley] You ah, might find these interesting, Sir.
Thomas Lynley: Thanks very much.
Uniformed Police Officer: [Looks at Havers then leaves]
Barbara Havers: Alright, explain. How does letting a bunch of decorators loose in my house help me?
Thomas Lynley: Oh, be honest. You never were going to sell the place until you had done it up and you're paying a mortgage on a flat you're not even living in.
Barbara Havers: That is my business, not yours!
Thomas Lynley: Well, I thought we had forged some sort of bond here, however bizarre! I thought showing some concern was permitted!
Barbara Havers: Concern? This is fascism! I mean, I don't even like Duck White!
Thomas Lynley: Concern because you're sitting night after night avoiding the inevitable. If I never done it, you never would.
Barbara Havers: You patronizing, sanctimonious...! Okay, I have been stalling. I am a coward. Now I'm panicking about leaving because the thought of coming home to nothing is more scary than coming home to a mother who doesn't know who I am. I keep putting off visiting my mum because she doesn't understand that I am dismantling her life and putting it into cardboard boxes. Now that is my problem and I don't need you to show me that I am an inadequate human being!
Thomas Lynley: Alright. What I did was inexcusable. I'm very sorry. But one thing you are not is an inadequate human being.
- ConnectionsFollowed by The Inspector Lynley Mysteries: Playing for the Ashes (2003)
In this story, Rev. Sage dies on his way home from dinner with Juliet Spence (Pippa Haywood). The coroner declares that it's hemlock poisoning, that hemlock was mistaken for parsley and put into the food Ms. Spence made. Juliet also became ill but vomited, which is not a symptom of hemlock poisoning. In fact, she administered an emetic to herself.
Lynley and Havers find several suspects while they try to deal with their personal problems: Havers has moved her mother into a nursing home and is supposed to get her house ready to sell, except she is procrastinating; and Lynley is pursuing a romance with the nervous Helen Clyde (Lesley Vickerage).
One suspect is, of course, Juliet herself, another is her daughter Maggie (Charlotte Salt), another is Polly Yarken (Joanna Dunn), who is in love with Juliet's boyfriend, Steve Shepherd (Jason Merrells), and he just happens to be on the force.
Lynley and Havers uncover the truth in an excellent story. While the solution might not come as a shock, the reasons behind it definitely will.
I haven't read the books; supposedly the character of Lynley is a knock-off of Inspector Wimsey. Obviously the people who put this series together had something different in mind. As Lynley, Nathaniel Parker is wonderful - handsome, with a beautiful smile, elegant, sexy, and warm. I really don't know how Helen can resist him. Frankly he could do better. Sharon Small is excellent as his working class partner, a woman beset by anger and loneliness, but a lot of respect and affection for Lynley. They make a great team.
Haven't seen all of these, but I'm guessing this episode is one of the best in the series.