Midsomer Murders is based on the work of mystery author Caroline Graham. Midsomer County apparently is home to more vile homicidal lunatics than all five boroughs of New York combined. Now before you start to conjure images of a lawless frontier land, let me say that Midsomer country looks much like any other rural county in England. It is full of small towns and villages. The folks tend their gardens and chat after church.
This series could easily be tossed in with Murder, She Wrote and others of that nature, but that would be a huge mistake. This series has a bit of a gleam in its eye. It is as though they know the county has way too many murders and murderers. They realize this is pretty ridiculous, but are cool with it. At times, Detective Barnaby’s (John Nettles) reaction to another body is more of a “Ah, I was wondering when that would turn up” than real surprise. It is Detective Sergeant Scott that is left to express dismay at the bloodthirsty ruffians that populate this seemingly peaceful county. The humor is dry; droll might be a better term but it is also fairly smart. The mysteries are just clever enough to keep you guessing.
