Season five of Murdoch Mysteries opens in unfamiliar territory as Detective William Murdoch (Yannick Bisson) leaves Toronto to try his luck while the Klondike Gold Rush in the Yukon winds down. Suspended for interfering in an investigation on the run for surreptitiously freeing a murderer to make amends and nursing a broken heart after Dr. Ogden's marriage to another man he tries to escape his past and his passion for detective work. Back in the city newly promoted Chief Constable Giles (Nigel Bennett) makes it clear to Inspector Thomas Brackenreid (Thomas Craig) that he'll be keeping a very close eye on police matters. Meanwhile Murdoch's beloved former associate Dr. Julia Ogden (Hélène Joy) is now working alongside Acting Detective George Crabtree (Jonny Harris) and Dr. Emily Grace (Georgina Reilly) a feisty young protégé. In the remote north Murdoch is pleased to discover that his fledgling prospecting career may garner great success a small comfort after Julia's marriage to another man. But as he tries to rebuild his life he finds himself drawn into the case of Mrs. Elizabeth Bryant (Jill Halfpenny) an innkeeper charged with murder. The plot thickens when writer Jack London (Aaron Ashmore) lends his insights and Murdoch soon realizes that while he had hoped to leave his shattered heart and tattered career back in Toronto his days as a detective are not behind him.