We've found another Midsomer village that Barnaby doesn't like: Midsomer Mallow.
This one is part of a "Perfect Village" competition, in which Joyce is a judge. Barnaby and Troy are called in because of some break-ins there. The thief is a young man named Peter Drinkwater (Orlando Bloom), who is also a major womanizer. He's the first murder victim, done in by a pitchfork. The husband of the woman he's sleeping with is a suspect, as is a girl he has broken up with, and her parents. An actor, Edward Allardice (Moray Watson) was also robbed, but he's hiding something and not telling the total truth. The butcher (Bill Thomas) hated Drinkwater because his son was committing robberies alongside him. There there are people on the competition committee who want the death hushed up because it might wreck their chances for a win.
However, there are two more deaths, one a poisoning at one of the events, and one a stabbing. The stabbed woman had a history of depression, so Barnaby and Troy investigate by going to a psychiatric hospital where she was a patient, and tying everything in with an earlier murder.
This is a good mystery with great production values, some wry comedy, and lots of drama. One of the better episodes, this one written by Anthony Horowitz.