8 Questions for The Marlow Murder Club’s Jo Martin
The Marlow Murder Club’s Jo Martin discusses all the best things in life—food, friendship, and dogs—as well as the empty nest journey her character Suzie sets out on in Season 2, in her August 2025 interview with MASTERPIECE. Read on for insights and delights, and you’ll feel like you’re another member of the club!
Suzie is becoming an empty nester in Season 2. What does that mean for her and the journey she’s on?
She’s facing the empty nest, and she’s a single mum, so the relationship with her daughter, as a parent, is even more intense. I am a mother, and it’s intense, but part of our job is to let them go. Suzie struggled with that [in Season 1] when Zeta decided to leave and spend time with her father, which was really painful because she felt like he’d not been around all this time, and suddenly she’s spending time with him. And then now she’s going to Uni, which is all her dreams come true for her daughter, but the thing is, she still sees her as this baby. But Zeta’s a young adult, and I think she finds that Suzie can be almost a little bit smothering because she’s lost herself on this life journey, where suddenly you have a child and you give everything up and channel everything into your child. And that’s really tough.
So her relationship with Judith and Cara is key to her letting go and reminding herself who she was before she was a mother, before she was a wife or a single mother, because you do lose yourself. I think she’s finding herself now, in Season 2, and it’s so joyous seeing her find this new life and understanding that there’s more to this life than just being a mom. There’s a moment when Judith quotes Confucius to her, saying, “We have two lives, and the second begins when we realize we only have one.” And it really resonates with Suzie, and that sets her off on her next journey, with these new friends. I’m not saying she didn’t have friends before, but she never had friends like these. It’s not about, going to the cinema or going out to have a meal or what have you. We’re solving crime.
Suzie does a lot of running in Season 2! How is that for you?
Oh Lord. Let me tell you about a lot of salt baths. I think they forget how old I am, maybe because I present as quite young—don’t say anything!—but I have a lot of salt baths because my poor body aches. But I love it. I love a bit of action. I’m like, “When are we going to get do some karate? Let’s get some fighting going on. I can do a good throat punch.” So I’m waiting, God willing, to get more seasons that I get a bit even more action.
So if Suzie is the runner and Judith is the swimmer, what do you think is Becks’ athletic specialty?
She jumps walls very well, let me tell you that. You’ll see that in Season 3. She can jump a wall, that girl. She’s a high jumper.
Suzie is a dog walker and a dog-lover. How do you feel about dogs?
I love dogs. I grew up with a dog. I’ve not had one recently because we’ve had cats, only because when we work away a lot, it’s really hard. But I’m hoping one day, when things slow down a bit more, to get another dog. I kind of like the look of small dogs, those little coodleloodies—I don’t know what they call them. And our dog on the show, Luna, whose real name is Daisy, is such a sweetie pie. We get lots of hugs and cuddles with her, and her temperament is gorgeous. All the other dogs they bring on set, we’re all like, “Oh, you’re so cute!” It’s a real joy. And thank God I do love dogs, because I’d be dead in the water if I didn’t, because you understand I have to spend so much time around them.
As the show’s resident dog expert, what breed of dog would you say is most like Suzie, Judith, and Becks?
Judith is quite elegant, she’s got this quiet and kind of steely thing, so I’m thinking she is a bit of a Doberman. Although they’ve got reputation of being quite fighty dogs, they look quite elegant and regal. Cara, I would say she’s not quite a poodle because that’s too cutesy, but there’s a little kind of puppiness about her. I can’t think of what breed she’d be, but she’s a young dog, she’s a pup. And Suzie, I think she’s a bit of a pug.
Who among your cast members do you think would be the first to solve a real murder?
I think Sam [Samantha Bond]. Yeah, yeah, Sam would be the one because—she’s very different obviously, to her character, Judith, but she’s great at crosswords. In between scenes, she’s always sitting there doing her little Times the crosswords and puzzles and whatnot. So she’s quite inquisitive like that. And then second, I would like to say myself, only because I’m very nosy. I’m a curtain twitcher. I’m always peeping on my neighbors. “What’s going on there? What’s happening there?” So yes, I like a bit of gossip, and within gossip, you get information, isn’t it?
When the murder club is first starting out, Becks brings a cake to Judith’s. I understand that you are a very good cook, so what would you bring to a murder club, if you had one of your own?
Oh Lord, yes. I love to cook. I’m an inventor. So I’ll be bringing some Romesco sauce to my murder club. My Romesco sauce is legend—I do a beautiful one with the almonds and the garlic and the vinegar and the lemons, but I also throw in a few cheeky anchovies. They do a thing. And then I’ll do a poached salmon, and put that on the poached salmon. Oh my girl! And a fennel salad, which I mandalay so it’s really thin, and mandalay some apple as well, and you over that goes a lovely vinegarette with some orange juice on it. You’d leave your husband and want to marry me, trust me. I love to cook. I’m a wizard.
Do you have a favorite moment from making Season 2 of The Marlow Murder Club?
Well, let me tell you, we had such a giggle when we did the mobility scooter scenes, because when you’re driving through the town of Marlow and people suddenly see this ridiculous scooter, the looks on people’s faces and the conversations we had with the locals as we were trying to proceed to do the scenes—it was just joyous. And then we got a couple of free ice creams! And that’s always a good moment, one of my favorites: food and freeness. Yeah.
