Sometimes Barnaby just benefits by a lot of luck. There is a bit too much of it in this offering. A horrible blackmailer, smug a smarmy, has been brutally murdered. Even though he probably had it coming, Barnaby and Jones must try their best to find the killer. There are few suspects and a couple of people finding personal gain in the process. Barnaby finds a likable character in a man who lives by the seaside. He is helpful in the investigation. His wife is kind, and he looks like he could be a good friend for our DCI. He is himself an ex-policeman and very good natured. Anyway, there are a couple victims, not of murder, but of rumors and slander (the blackmailer has left his mark, even in death). The biggest problem with this episode are a series of deus ex machianae that seem to pop up. The final scene in the film is just so far fetched as to be laughable. Could the writers not have come up with a bit more complex clue than what happens? Also, the murder victim is so unlikeable that we are pulling for the murderer half the time.
Review of Down Among the Dead Men
