The Good Ship Murder episode 2 recap: Who killed Nero?

The Good Ship Murder continues with another gripping plot, after the opening story about a scheming widow who had orchestrated her latest husband's death.

The full synopsis for the second episode is: "When a crime writer joins the luxury ship as a star passenger, it isn't long before death gets on board, as well.

"In Lisbon, the author's husband dies in circumstances eerily similar to events in her own book. With superfans and bitter rivals in the mix, it's up to singer Jack and first officer Kate to unravel the murderer's identity before the body count rises still."

But what happened in episode 2, and who was the killer? Here's everything you need to know...

The Good Ship Murder episode 2 recap: Who killed Nero?

Episode 2 opens a bit awkwardly after Jack is seen lounging on the deck reading a crime novel. The woman next to him asks if he's not enjoying it, to which he responds it's full of plot holes.

However, when Kate arrives and reveals that the author, Stephanie St James, was sitting beside him the whole time. When Stephanie leaves, Kate tells Jack off and reveals that the ship's entertainment director Beverly has been trying to get her to make an appearance for years.

So it's not off to an excellent start. Kate drops by Stephanie's cabin to drop off some fan mail, where her assistant Lizzie is signing books on the author's behalf as well as opening mail.

Suspiciously, a sympathy card is found amid all the letters. Lizzie reads it aloud, and it says: "Hope the book is good, it's the last one before you die". However, Stephanie reveals she's had threats like this before and doesn't take them too seriously.

Despite her husband Nero saying she should stay behind, Stephanie decides to continue with her book signing and guided tour as planned, not wanting to let her fans down. Jack thinks she should be confined to her cabin, but Kate tells him it's not possible.

Stephanie sees a superfan named Elmore Patterson, who has traveled a long way to come and see her on the cruise. However, she seems disturbed when Elmore reveals he made her some cardboard cutouts depicting the two of them, claiming that she's his fiancée.

Then, Anoshka shows up, with Kate telling Jack she is an actress who played one of Stephanie's characters in the TV adaptation. She seems hostile towards Stephanie and Nero, accusing them of stealing money.

The ship arrives in Lisbon, where Stephanie begins her tour of the area and reads passages from her book linked to each location. While this is going on, Elmore and Nero have a loud disagreement, with Nero telling the superfan to stay away.

During the tour, Stephanie gets angry at Lizzie, accusing her of "forgetting so much lately". This isn't the first time she's berated her assistant, and it's clear Stephanie has a few people in her life who might just want to harm her.

Kate follows Nero who gets up to take a phone call, and sees Lizzie talking to him once he's hung up. She says that Anoshka showing up was "his fault" and accuses him of messing things up and blowing all Stephanie's money. Interestingly, she also tells him she "can't keep doing this"... but what is she referring to?

Meanwhile, Jack gets closer to Anoshka who tells him that Nero hurt her incredibly badly. She then flees and tells Jack this is "all a bit much for her".

Later, the crowd is horrified when Nero's body falls from the bell tower and lands in the town square. Jack concludes that he was stabbed before he fell and that his wedding ring is missing due to a tan line on his finger.

Kate notices that Nero's death is suspiciously like the one in Stephanie's latest book, implying it was committed by someone who knows her work well. Kate spotted the argument between Nero and Lizzie, and Elmore is sneaking around, so there are lots of potential suspects.

Stephanie immediately accuses Anoshka of the murder, who swears she didn't do anything. But are any of these people responsible, or is it someone else entirely?

The next day, Jack speaks to Elmore, telling him he's checking up on guests after what happened. When asked where he was, Elmore reveals he was taking some photographs during the time of the murder. When Jack asks about the earlier argument with Nero, Elmore tells him it was none of his business before storming off.

He then speaks to Anoshka, who is in shock about what has happened. She reveals that she and Nero were together for four years and got engaged, but then Stephanie entered the picture. She accuses them of ruining her reputation, and not only that, but Stephanie killed off her character so she could not perform in the role again.

When interviewing Stephanie, she admits her husband was a "complicated character" and that he got swept up in the high life, which included gambling, drinking, and other women. Stephanie becomes upset and says she "wasn't enough".

Jack and Kate ask Lizzie about Elmore, and she reveals he's been a dedicated fan and showed up at multiple signings, but one time Nero swore he saw him outside Stephanie's house. Apparently, he was standing outside taking photos.

When arguing about the book, Kate realizes that the plot had a second murder that happened at a chapel that Stephanie had just gone to pray at. They hear her scream and they run inside, finding her alive, but shaken up.

Back on the ship, Jack and Kate confront Elmore and ask about his whereabouts at the time Stephanie was assaulted. He gets angry, saying he does not want to answer any questions. But Kate has an idea.

She asks the apparent superfan the name of the detective's dog in the novel, and when he answers incorrectly, she reveals he doesn't have a dog. Realizing he's dropped himself in it, Jack demands to know who he really is.

Elmore hands them a business card revealing he is actually William Callaghan and he works for the US Treasury Department, specifically in the IRS. He reveals he has been observing Stephanie for the past 12 months, and that she hasn't been paying her taxes.

It turns out that William had tried to cut a deal with Nero if he would testify against Stephanie, but he refused. He believes Nero was embezzling his wife.

Jack deduces that Lizzie and Nero were having an affair, and when confronted, Lizzie admits he was an addict, and that Nero had gone to the top of the bell tower to take photos for Stephanie on the day he was killed. Jack speculates that Lizzie could have killed Nero, as she asked him to take the photos.

Jack and a member of the ship's security do a search of Anoshka's room and Jack asks how she paid for the trip if she was out of work. She reveals she was invited by an anonymous person. The security officer finds a wedding ring in the handbag she was using yesterday.

Back in Lisbon, Jack notices the bell has not rang once. He has a brain wave and runs to the top of the tower, noticing the rope has been burned. Kate skims through the book and realizes that the killer tied the body to the rope and set it alight, before running down the stairs, meaning they were downstairs by the time the rope burned through and the body fell, making them look innocent.

On the ship, they match an original manuscript with notes to the writing on the threatening letter. And it all adds up, Stephanie is the killer, and she had planned this all along, even sending herself the letter to send them on a wild goose chase.

They confront Stephanie as she's in a café with Lizzie. Jack explains Stephanie had also invited Anoshka to the cruise and planted the ring during their argument outside the bell tower. The final nail in the coffin is that she was planning on murdering Lizzie, as Jack points out that the dish she ordered is full of hazelnuts, something she is deathly allergic to.

Defeated, Stephanie reveals she wrote the novel about Lizzie and Nero and she knew about the affair all along, as well as the embezzlement.

The Good Ship Murder is an eight-part series on Channel 5 airing on Fridays at 9pm.