The Merfolk Murders

Tim Foley has become a regular writer on this range, previously penning The Auton Infinity and last year's Pursuit of the Nightjar expectations are set high, this time stepping away from sci-fi and placing the Doctor and his friends into a more traditional murder mystery with The Merfolk Murders.

The team find themselves at the University of St Andrews in 1940 and meet the Merfolk, a society that spends the summer reading murder mystery stories, who soon have a real murder to discuss. The society's leader Athena, maths student Henry, the allied soldier Private Kowalski, Professor Hodgson and Sebastian - the student who knows of the Doctor - are they key players.

Subverting the usual Doctor Who tropes, the central protagonists aren't so much as suspected, instead being free to make their own investigations, each spending a good amount of time with the others while getting the chance to go off alone and get to know members of the side cast, a blossoming romance between Adric and Henry being a personal highlight, as well as Nyssa being able to connect with Kowalski over having lost their homes.

The mystery itself is well-crafted, there did come a point where it seemed the solution may be obvious but the story has enough twists, turns and red herrings to keep you guessing. The identity of the culprit certainly surprised me and it all comes together in an overall satisfying way. While not a lot of substance is drawn from it, a parallel being drawn to people who get a too obsessed with modern true crime media also goes appreciated.

The performances are great throughout, the "gotcha" scene is so well performed and Foley gives Janet Fielding another moment to shine as Tegan has to make a difficult phone call. As always, Fielding's interplay with Davison entertains.

As with last year's box sets it's a shame there's no music suite on this release, as Howard Carter's score for this story is my favourite he's done for the range so far, music during a major reveal in the climax and a scene with Adric and Tegan on the beach are particular highlights I'd love to have listened to in isolation. I hope that future Fifth Doctor Adventures releases do feature music suites, even if it's too late for this one.

The Merfolk Murders is another big winner for The Fifth Doctor Adventures, adding to Tim Foley's impressive streak. There's no telling if or when Foley will write another story for the range, though this story does tease other adventures for the this Doctor's immediate predecessor and successor.