"Down Among the Dead Men" from season 9 provides both mystery and humor as Barnaby and Jones try to solve a murder.
The opening has a very good looking man greeting a young woman who comes to his home. They talk -- she asks why he chose her...apparently she fit the requirements. She goes upstairs, gets into nightclothes, and climbs into a single bed in the guest room.
Downstairs, the man, Martin Barrett, is listening to the male/male duet from Pearl Fishers when a bullet comes through the window and kills him. The young woman upstairs hears the shot. But she's nowhere to be found when police arrive.
Turns out that this man has been blackmailing practically everyone in the community, so they have a lot of suspects. One man, a friend of Barnaby's, has been accused of inappropriate behavior toward young women in a home he ran; another is a pub owner who faked a tax return; and a couple who takes weekend trips to the sea and may be up to something.
I found Barnaby's and Jones' repartee very amusing, and Jones was especially funny. "You know," he tells one suspect. "I envy my boss. He always puts people at ease when he interviews them. What was Martin Barrett blackmailing you about?" There are some fun characters as well, including a cleaning woman whose husband is questioned. He doesn't give honest answers; every time he lies, his wife tells the detectives the truth.
Very good mystery with a slight twist at the end. Entertaining.
The opening has a very good looking man greeting a young woman who comes to his home. They talk -- she asks why he chose her...apparently she fit the requirements. She goes upstairs, gets into nightclothes, and climbs into a single bed in the guest room.
Downstairs, the man, Martin Barrett, is listening to the male/male duet from Pearl Fishers when a bullet comes through the window and kills him. The young woman upstairs hears the shot. But she's nowhere to be found when police arrive.
Turns out that this man has been blackmailing practically everyone in the community, so they have a lot of suspects. One man, a friend of Barnaby's, has been accused of inappropriate behavior toward young women in a home he ran; another is a pub owner who faked a tax return; and a couple who takes weekend trips to the sea and may be up to something.
I found Barnaby's and Jones' repartee very amusing, and Jones was especially funny. "You know," he tells one suspect. "I envy my boss. He always puts people at ease when he interviews them. What was Martin Barrett blackmailing you about?" There are some fun characters as well, including a cleaning woman whose husband is questioned. He doesn't give honest answers; every time he lies, his wife tells the detectives the truth.
Very good mystery with a slight twist at the end. Entertaining.