There's always a death (TV Jinxes)

[Webs]

You know these shows whose locations are a sure call for a murder mystery? I'm not talking about the ones that happen in big cities like NY, LA, London, where there is a large population so yeah, deaths happen.

I'm talking about Midsomer, and Cabot's Cove, and Saint Marie. With the death per episode these places should be unpopulated.

If Miss Marple or any of those other TV detectives showed up to my innocent party, I'd throw them out.

[Webs]

And it's never just one murder. It's multiple people. For the silliest reason.

[Liiisa]

Yeah I'd think it would make you want to avoid those places

[sprite]

I've thought this.
It's probably why Jessica travels so much!

[Webs]

But how many serial killers can there be in Midsomer England? All these small villages with people who feel no guilt at murdering more than one person or raping. I just watched one where these guys killed someone for marrying one of the girls in the village because that meant she couldn't be raped on Beltane. And then, when caught in the act and arrested, this whole group of blokes were going to murder the officers doing the arresting. Who writes this stuff? Oh wait, the writer was fired for being racist.

It's nuts. Nuts. At lease Law & Order makes sense. NYC is a crime ridden metropolis.

[ozziegiraffe]

Yes. I live in a town of about 50,000, and one murder, of a German backpacker, horrified and saddened everyone here. I drove past her memorial this morning.
However, I still enjoy cozy mysteries.

[Queen]

Well... it is fiction

Midsommer was based on a series of books, but that's only the first series. After that it's made up based on the same characters, but the writer of the books was in the writing team for a few more series. It was a producer rather than a writer who stepped down - not entirely voluntarily. (I've checked IMDB if it's Brian True-May you're thinking of he was never a writer for the series, always a producer)

I've been watching the series and the motives get ever more unlikely, but I still enjoy solving the puzzle, and also enjoy spotting actors from other things. In an episode I watched recently there was David Bamber (Mr Collins in P&P), Elizabeth Spriggs (Mrs Jennings from S&S) and Sophie Thompson (Mrs Bates in Emma). There are often some great actors in the cast, and the show includes women older than 35 who are allowed to look older than 35 (HUGE contrast to pretty much every US TV show)


I get a bit cranky at how often the killer turns out to be a woman because in real life it's more likely to be a man, but perhaps the writers are deeply feminist </s>

[Webs]

True, it's fiction. My confusion about the writer/producer thing. Yes, the episodes I've watched have had some great actors. But the stories have been so convoluted.

[Queen]

And often the solution wouldn't stand up in court but when confronted the perpetrator ALWAYS confesses as criminals are so likely to do...

[Phar Lap]

I like the part where, on Saint Marie, the (British) Inspector of the day calls all the suspects together, they sit around in a circle, and voila! our murderer is unmasked, Dwayne and Fidel or Florence and JP Hooper are asked to “Take them away”!

Such a nice series where nothing bad really happens. Same with Midsomer Murders, nothing bad ever really happens. None of this mindless violence, shootings and bloody gore. 

The murders themselves are quite ingenious. 

[scicaro]

I saw this shared somewhere else today and thought of this thread.

[Queen]

- never have the only copy of a will, deed or other vital document
- don't be the claimant to a dodgy inheritance
- don't got to random villages the weekend they're having their annual village fête
- don't go to places called Midsommer ____ or Badgers ___ or Upper ____ or Lower ____

[sprite]

In Ste Marie, avoid any sort of reunion, or any activity with digging. Never look up old friends, or sign contracts with people you've only just met.

[sprite]

In Brokenwood, don't go on a tour, take up a new hobby/sport, or go to the opening of any sort of enterprise.

[Queen]

Speaking of Jinxes... I was watching pirate copies of Midsommer on YouTube and the videos are all disappeared.

I was up to episode 7 of series 9 - and I think there are more than 20 series, so quite a long way to go.