Heatwave ending explained: Who was the killer?

Heatwave: Kat Graham holding a gun
A shocking murder is at the heart of Heatwave. (Image credit: Netflix)

Heatwave has landed on Netflix and fans are going wild over the steamy thriller which follows a woman who gets into a dangerous affair.

We follow a career-driven woman named Claire, whose life changes when she falls in love with her boss's wife and starts a secret affair. But it's not long before danger is around the corner, threatening to expose some dark secrets.

When Claire's boss goes missing and then his burnt body is discovered at Ironside Cannery, her life is turned upside down and she finds herself being blamed for what happened to him. This forces her to frantically try to prove her innocence.

But with Claire framed for her boss' murder and her shocking affair at the center of it all, there's a lot to unpack. So what happened at the end of Heatwave? Here's everything you need to know...

Heatwave ending explained: Who killed Scott Crane?

Sebastian Roché as Scott Crane

(Image credit: Netflix)

The shocking murder of Scott Crane is at the heart of Heatwave after his body is found burned and left at Ironside Cannery. And because of Claire's traumatic past, she is accused of his murder.

When she was 15 years old, Claire's family died in a house fire and she was the sole survivor of the ordeal. She decided to get revenge on the landlord, Jacob Smith, whose negligence had caused the building to burn down.

Claire, blinded by rage, went to Jacob's home and set it on fire, killing him in the process. She was convicted of this and was released from prison when she was 18. Her traumatic upbringing is something she tried to hide from others and she was able to secure a job at Scott Crane's business regardless of her history.

Not long after joining Scott's company, Claire finds herself falling for his wife Eve, and the two start seeing each other in secret. For a while, everything's good, but then Scott goes missing and his body is later found at one of the canneries that Claire had proposed that the business acquires.

It seems awfully convenient. Claire knew about the cannery, she was once convicted of arson, and she's involved with Scott's wife, so it's not surprising that the police initially think Claire's involved in this.

But there's a twist in the tale when it is revealed that it was actually Eve who orchestrated Scott's murder, and she had a seemingly perfect plan. 

Eve had struck a deal with Jacob Smith's son, Lane, to kill her husband, Scott Crane, in return for taking revenge on Claire for murdering his father and destroying his home. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement, which would in theory see Claire arrested and Eve able to take over her husband's business.

What happened to Claire and Eve?

Despite Eve's sadistic plan, she didn't expect to actually develop romantic feelings for Claire and during a final confrontation, it is revealed her feelings were genuine. But this isn't enough to convince Claire to keep her secret.

Although Claire had fallen in love too, she reveals she's tired of being manipulated by people and wants to move on. So she turns Eve into the police, clearing her own name in the process and giving her the opportunity to move on from it all.

It is presumed Claire will continue building her career in real estate, and the movie ends with her receiving compensation from the police, after one of their officers attempted to kill her in cold blood during the investigation, convinced she was actually guilty.

Lucy Buglass
Senior Staff Writer

Lucy joined the WhatToWatch.com team in 2021, where she writes series guides for must-watch programmes, reviews and the latest TV news. Now she works for our sister site TechRadar in the same role. Originally from Northumberland, she graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a degree in Film Studies and moved to London to begin a career writing about entertainment.

She is a Rotten Tomatoes approved film critic and has a huge passion for cinema. She especially loves horror, thriller and anything crime-related. Her favourite TV programmes include Inside No 9, American Horror Story, Stranger Things and Black Mirror but she is also partial to a quiz show or a bit of Say Yes to the Dress