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Fine Tuning: Inspector Murdoch gets to the bottom of a marine mystery

Intrepid Inspector Murdoch is at sea, metaphorically and literally (well, a lake), when Murdoch Mysteries returns for a seventh season Monday. A prominent shipping magnate has received a threat aboard a steamer, the S.S.
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Inspector Murdoch returns for a seventh season, tonight at 9 on CBC.

Intrepid Inspector Murdoch is at sea, metaphorically and literally (well, a lake), when Murdoch Mysteries returns for a seventh season Monday. A prominent shipping magnate has received a threat aboard a steamer, the S.S. Keewatin, during is its maiden voyage on Lake Ontario and avowed landlubber Murdoch (Yannick Bisson) must shake out his sea legs and calm his queasy stomach to get to the bottom of the mystery. He’s still recovering from his emotional separation from Julia Ogden (Hélène Joy), and he hopes the new mystery will take his mind off recent events.

Murdoch decides it would be prudent to stay aboard and decide for himself if the threat is genuine — especially after the magnate tells him, a tad too pompously for Murdoch’s liking: “Sir, I’m a successful man; I have more enemies than I do friends,”

The story, written by longtime Murdoch Mysteries producer Paul Aitken — Aitken penned Murdoch Mysteries’ first season finale in 2008 — is reminiscent of a famous Agatha Christie Poirot mystery, in which the famously fussy Poirot is trying to relax on a trans-Atlantic sea voyage only to be rudely interrupted by a body — or what sounds like a body — being tossed over the side in the middle of the night.

Murdoch, much like Poirot, is gallant and well-mannered, and when a body — or what sounds like a body — is tossed over the side into Lake Ontario in broad daylight, Murdoch makes his inquiries with the gentlemanly manners fans have come to expect from their favourite 19th-century sleuth.

The Murdoch Mysteries season opener is directed with a sturdy hand by series veteran Laurie Lynd, and it has the assured — if unchallenging — look and feel of a drama series that knows what it wants to be, and knows its limits. 9 p.m., CBC

Three to See

• The Blacklist has emerged as a frontrunner this season, following a strong première last week. Isabella Rossellini guest stars in today’s second episode, as “Red” Reddington (James Spader) and Liz (Megan Boone) track down a killer who masks his deeds behind the headlines of everyday tragedies. 10 p.m., Global, NBC

 

• The new serial thriller Hostages didn’t fare badly in its opener, despite debuting opposite The Blacklist. In the second episode, the stakes are raised when the hostage takers threaten to kill one of Emily’s (Toni Collette) family members after she refuses to do their bidding. 10 p.m., CTV, CBS

 

• These are early days yet for the new season of The Voice, but last weekend’s Emmy win and the return of judges Cee Lo Green and Christina Aguilera, brought a 17 per cent spike in ratings from last fall’s debut. Auditions continue today. 8 p.m., CTV, NBC