The body of Charlie Finlayson is discovered in the woods near Midsomer Sonning. DCI Barnaby (played by John Nettles) and DS Jones (played by Jason Hughes) find themselves investigating the staff of the Midsomer Life magazine because the dead man was married to the former wife of the publication's owner, Guy Sandys (played by Simon Williams), Christina (played by Serena Gordon). The detectives discover a feud between Sandys and the owner of the Morecroft Hotel, Matt (played by Thomas Lockyer), in which Sandys is banning him from advertising in his magazine and about to publish a scathing review about his business as well. In particular, the food, which is angering Morecroft's barman and chef, Martin Reid (played by Daniel Hill), who became bankcrupt after his own attempt to start a restaurant failed. In addition, there is animosity between the local people and well-to-do visitors from London who come to show off their expensive off road vehicles on Morecroft's driving range. Does all this add up to a motive for murder and who is the mysterious man, Tomlin (played by Richard Morant), who stays at the hotel, keeps himself to himself but has been seen watching the Midsomer Life offices? Three more deaths follow before Barnaby and Jones finally bring the culprit to book...
All in all, Midsomer Life is a delight from beginning to end. There are enough plot turns and red herrings to keep murder mystery buffs happy and, as ever, the acting is excellent all round from a top flight cast. The murder scenes are quite unsettling, but there are some great moments of humour to relieve the tension such as an hilarious pub brawl between the villagers and the revellers from London. Meanwhile, Jane Wymark gets more to do here in her regular role as DCI Barnaby's husband Joyce. She turns detective, much to her husband's annoyance, because she actually provides him with some important clues to solving the case. This provides some of the comedy relief too, but it also forms part of the story's very suspenseful climax. As usual, the top notch production values associated with this series are evident, the rural locations are attractive and add to the sense of the mysteriousness and the film is very ably directed by Peter Smith.
All in all, Midsomer Life is a delight from beginning to end. There are enough plot turns and red herrings to keep murder mystery buffs happy and, as ever, the acting is excellent all round from a top flight cast. The murder scenes are quite unsettling, but there are some great moments of humour to relieve the tension such as an hilarious pub brawl between the villagers and the revellers from London. Meanwhile, Jane Wymark gets more to do here in her regular role as DCI Barnaby's husband Joyce. She turns detective, much to her husband's annoyance, because she actually provides him with some important clues to solving the case. This provides some of the comedy relief too, but it also forms part of the story's very suspenseful climax. As usual, the top notch production values associated with this series are evident, the rural locations are attractive and add to the sense of the mysteriousness and the film is very ably directed by Peter Smith.