Set on the titular Spanish island, Amazon Prime’s “The Mallorca Files” follows two detectives—Miranda, a London police officer, and Max, a German detective—who team up to work for the local Mallorca police. Max and Miranda operate under the supervision of Chief Inspector Ines. Even though they do not seem to see eye to eye and clearly have different perspectives and personalities, their partnership and chemistry are something that would really grab your attention throughout the series. Now that The Mallorca Files season 3 is about to come soon, let’s do a recap of seasons 1 and 2 and see how the detectives have been solving the cases so far and what their dynamic looks like.
What happened in Season 1?
In the first episode of “The Mallorca Files” Season 1, titled “Honor Amongst Thieves,” we met Miranda Blake, who had come from London to Mallorca to arrest a gangster named Niall Taylor. However, upon arriving at the airport, Miranda witnessed an ambush, and Niall was shot. Niall was about to reveal the shady dealings of his gang and how they’d managed to stash away thirty million dollars in an offshore account. With his death, the operation seemed to have gone rogue. Miranda, being a workaholic, insisted on staying back to solve the case, despite her London police chief advising her to step back. The Chief Inspector Ines was initially skeptical about letting Miranda join the Mallorca police but eventually agreed and paired her with Max Winter. Their differing personalities—Miranda’s preference for working alone versus Max’s more relaxed style—made for a bumpy start. As they investigated, they found that Niall’s gang members were being murdered, and his daughter Claire had gone missing. It was soon revealed that Niall wasn’t actually dead; it was all fake. Niall had faked his death and planned to pass on the money to Claire, his loyal daughter. After a confrontation where Niall tried to push Max off a cliff, he escaped with the money as Miranda helped Max climb back up the cliff. Miranda, feeling like a failure, was now stuck in Mallorca but began to adjust to her new reality. Despite their rocky start, Miranda started to appreciate Max’s intuitive and laid-back approach.
In the second episode, “King of the Mountains,” a high-profile cyclist named Esteban Domenech was abducted during a race. Esteban, a local hero, turned up again, but Miranda suspected foul play when drug tests showed conflicting results. It turned out Esteban had a twin brother, Davide, who was believed to have died in a fire. Esteban had been using Davide to avoid drug tests, and when Esteban discovered Davide’s affair with his wife Clara, things took a dark turn. Davide and Clara planned to kill Esteban and run away together. The case wrapped up with Davide and Clara arrested, and Miranda and Max bonded over a cycling race. But as you know Miranda by now, her competitive spirit did not let her take her loss well.
In Episode 3, “The Oligarch’s Icon,” a valuable icon of Saint Nicholas was stolen from a monastery. It was discovered that Kati Gorenka, the wife of a Russian oligarch, was behind the theft. She planned to replace the icon with a fake, but Max and Miranda, with the help of the church priest, managed to recover the real one. The fake icon was gifted to Miranda at the end as a souvenir, and the case ended with another win for the detectives.
Episode 4, “Number One Fan,” involved the disappearance of top Spanish model Valentina Caligari from a train. Initially, the prime suspect was Richard Webb, who was obsessed with her and who was on the train the day she disappeared. However, it turned out Valentina’s brother Otto and her girlfriend Azra were involved. They were having an affair, and in a tragic turn of events, Valentina accidentally died while confronting them. Otto and Azra were arrested, and Miranda overcame her fear of claustrophobia with Max’s help by tackling her childhood trauma—which was honestly the highlight of the episode for me.
In Episode 5, “Sour Grapes,” a family faced threats, and their dog was killed. Initially, it looked like a feud between rival winery owners, Bodega Negra and Byass, but it turned out there was more to the story. Rainer from Bodega Negra and Margalida from Byass were having a secret affair. Rainer was already in a committed relationship, so when Margalida became jealous, things escalated. But that wasn’t all. Previously, Julio from Byass and Stephanie from the Bodega Negra family were in love, but their families didn’t approve. The Bodega Negra owner, Hans, couldn’t handle their relationship and, in a desperate move, tried to scare them away with a gun. This led to a tragic end where both Julio and Stephanie were killed. Hans buried their bodies in an old winery ground and wanted to leave Mallorca or even move to Germany to escape the mess he had created. This case was very tough on everyone involved.
In Episode 6, “To Kill a Stag,” a man named Karl was found dead in the pool at his stagg party. Initially, the prime suspect was a prostitute known for using a stun gun and stealing from her clients. However, it turned out that the real culprit was one of Karl’s friends. The friend was involved in an affair with Chloe, Karl’s partner. Honestly, by now, I was a bit fed up, as it was always about the affair, right?
In Episode 7, “Friend Henry,” a musician named Kurt is killed at a club due to contaminated pills. Detectives Max and Miranda investigated and discovered that the pills were provided by a woman who worked with the club owner, Heinrich. Both were involved with a criminal organization called Gardera. To protect themselves, they cooperated with the police and helped expose Gardera’s operations. This case was particularly significant for Miranda, as it connected to a past narcotics case she worked on involving the murder of a nineteen-year-old girl by a gang. Solving this case brought Miranda a sense of achievement and closure, and even Max was proud of her accomplishment.
In Episode 8, “Death in the Morning,” author Nicholas Mountford was murdered at a bullfighting arena. He had previously spoken out in support of banning bullfighting, which led to his death at the hands of the daughter of a famous bullfighter, El Susurrador. She sought revenge because she blamed Mountford for her father’s death, which she believed was caused by the ban on bullfighting. Meanwhile, Max and Miranda had developed a shared interest in salsa dancing. It was awkward but they had fun.
The Mallorca Files season 1’s ending made it clear that Max and Miranda’s relationship had grown into something more than just a professional partnership. They had started to develop real feelings for each other, even though Miranda hadn’t expected things to turn out this way. But, as they say, the heart wants what it wants, right?
In Episode 9, “Mallorca’s Most Wanted,” Max’s girlfriend, Carmen, got involved in a case. The suspect, Charlie King, was accused of killing a woman named Varma, who was Carmen’s friend over an affair. It turned out Charlie hadn’t committed the murder; he had fled because he was wrongly accused. The real culprit was a police officer named Hernandez, who had framed Charlie. At first, Ines was really upset with Miranda because she thought Miranda was making accusations about her senior Hernandez without understanding the full picture. However, when Ines realized she had been blinded by her own trust in the man and made a mistake, she was willing to admit it, and if you knew Ines, you knew how difficult it must have been.
In Episode 10, “Ex-Factor,” Jens, a man trying to impress his ex, took Miranda hostage during a live TV broadcast to force them to let him perform. Max couldn’t handle that and told Jens that he would sacrifice himself to save Miranda. The situation was complicated when Carmen saw the live broadcast and was upset because Max had proposed to her that morning, possibly due to his confusing feelings for Miranda. Jens was eventually arrested, and the case was resolved, but the season ended with Max and Miranda’s relationship in a complex state. Miranda decided to stay in Mallorca rather than return to London, which clearly showed she wasn’t ready to leave Max behind.
What happened in Season 2?
As Season 2 of “The Mallorca Files” started, we saw that Miranda had actually decided to stay back in Mallorca. Since she was planning to be there for a long time, Max helped her rent a sea-facing apartment. It seemed like he was really happy that she chose to stay, even though he was still in a relationship with Carmen, who was very skeptical about accepting his proposal, as she felt his heart did not belong to her. God knows what will happen between them.
Anyway, back to the episode recaps:
In the first episode, “The Maestro,” Ines, Max, and Miranda went to watch an opera performance where the main singer, Senior Castana, was murdered. By the end of the episode, they couldn’t solve the murder because it turned out that all the women involved with Castana came forward and claimed responsibility for his death. They revealed that he was a pretender who acted like a do-gooder and gave money to charity but was actually an evil man who assaulted women. Seeing all these women come forward made Miranda feel like the villain had been killed for a good reason. For the sake of these women, she requested Ines to drop the case. Did Miranda turn soft? Who knows?
In the second episode, “Son of a Pig,” a wealthy man named Diego Gris went missing. It was discovered that another private investigator, Frank Bottomley, was responsible for this. Frank’s grandfather had been killed by Diego’s family during the civil war. The Gris family had treated Frank’s grandfather brutally, and Frank sought revenge for this. Ultimately, he killed Diego as payback.
In Episode 3, “A Dish Served Cold,” a food critic named Oliver Barker was murdered by poisoning at a Michelin-starred restaurant. Initially, the chef was suspected due to jealousy, as Oliver and the chef’s wife, Laura, used to be in love. However, it turned out that Laura’s child with Oliver was responsible for the murder. Laura had given the child up for adoption, and the child had been brutally tortured by her foster family. She blamed Oliver for her suffering, as his actions had led to her being abandoned and mistreated. In the end, she was arrested.
In Episode 4, “The Beautiful Game,” a footballer named Rico was set to leave his club, and fans were clearly upset. Meanwhile, one of his friends, Carlos, was murdered. It turned out that Carlos had been having an affair with Rico’s mother, which was causing a significant scandal due to their age difference. To prevent Carlos from becoming an obstacle in Rico’s move to another club, she killed him off. Thankfully, in the end, Rico did not sign the contract and stayed with his current club, which was a win for the fans.
In Episode 5, “The Blue Feather,” a famous bird watcher named Tony Ball was kidnapped. It was discovered that Tony was actually a bird smuggler. With the help of animal lover Emilia, Max and Miranda found that her boss had kidnapped Tony to stop the smuggling and protect the species in the island.
Episode 6, “The Outlaw Jose Rey,” revolved around a credit card fraud case in Arta involving a horse ranch. The owner of the ranch was eventually killed. Although it initially appeared that he was killed by his grandson, who had been accused of financial fraud, it turned out that the owner’s own daughter had killed him. She had done so in a drunken state because he had falsely accused her son of the fraud. She only wanted to protect her child.
So, that’s about it for the cases. As for the partnership between Max and Miranda, it’s still complicated. Although Season 2 focused more on the cases than their relationship, the growing affection between the two was very prominent. It will be interesting to see how their relationship turns out and what new cases they solve together in Season 3.
