Season 5 of Murdoch Mysteries premiered on February 28, 2012, but earlier on September 27, 2011, CityTV (Rogers Media) announced that it would not be continuing the series beyond its fifth season. Season 5 was to be the series finale . . . until CBC had picked up the show and ordered a sixth season.
January 1899, Murdoch meets Jack London in the Yukon and evidence that the gold rush is nearly over. (ep.501)
By March, Inspector Giles (who previously investigated Murdoch for the “Wonderland” murder) is promoted to Chief Constable and becomes Brackenreid’s senior officer at Station House No. 4.
On suspension for interfering in an investigation, and on the run for surreptitiously freeing a murderer to make amends, William Murdoch has left Toronto, and police work, for the Yukon in pursuit of solace and fortune and meets a man named Jack London. Back in the city, newly promoted Chief Constable Giles makes it clear to Inspector Thomas Brackenreid that he'll be keeping a very close eye on police matters. Meanwhile, Murdoch's beloved former associate, Dr. Julia Ogden, is now working alongside Acting Detective George Crabtree and Dr. Emily Grace, a feisty young protégé.
Detective Murdoch must tread carefully when he pursues a Catholic suspect in the murder of an Alderman, killed during the attempted assassination of the city's Protestant mayor.
When Detective Murdoch investigates a series of deaths linked to an exhibition of Egyptian antiquities, Constable Crabtree is convinced a Mummy's curse is to blame.
When Elvira Cummings (Alison Jantzie), a young opera singer, is poisoned during a rehearsal of La Bohème, Detective Murdoch suspects the intended victim was Madame Rosa Hamilton (Measha Brueggergosman), the diva who stormed off stage moments before her protégé collapsed.
Detective Murdoch suspects the ambitious inventor of an electric vehicle murdered an associate who stood in the way of his plans to compete with Henry Ford.
When Detective Murdoch investigates the abduction of Lucille Messing (Tori Anderson), a shy, churchgoing librarian, he's stunned to discover his friend, Anna Fulford (Lisa Faulkner), working at the library under an alias. Murdoch has grave fears for her safety since the Black Hand, a criminal syndicate responsible for murdering her fiancé, still has a price on her head.
A high stakes card game involving Dr. Grace ends with the death of a player in the party. Murdoch is shocked to learn the true cost of their wagers is the opportunity to die.
After a young girl is abducted from her bed, Murdoch is stunned to discover that a talking doll left at the scene has a recorded message directed at him.
An argument after a hockey practice leads to Toronto hockey team captain Archie Simpson being knocked out by Eddie Driscoll, a bombastic and popular new player. Though he wakes from unconsciousness, he's later found dead in the locker room.
As New Year's Eve and the twentieth century approaches, Detective Murdoch is suspicious of Gideon Turner, who claims he has knowledge of soon-to-be-committed crimes but refuses to say how or why. When Turner bolts from police custody and thwarts a murder attempt, Murdoch, Inspector Brackenreid and Constable Crabtree demand to know where he got his information. He calmly explains he saw the events happen when he travelled to the future.