Midsomer Murders

Midsomer Murders is a charming British crime television series based on the Inspector Barnaby cozy mystery series by English playwright, screenwriter and novelist Caroline Graham. The TV series, which revolves around Barnaby’s efforts to solve numerous murders that take place in the idyllic village of Midsomer, recently celebrated its 100th episode, Killings in Copenhagen. (According to The Telegraph newspaper, the producers decided to set this episode in Copenhagen because it is the most popular foreign import on Danish television.)

Killings in Copenhagen finds Barnaby in Denmark on a mission to investigate the death of a Midsomer cookie tycoon who was poisoned by one of his own pastries while visiting Copenhagen to seal a business deal. This DVD set joins previous episodes available at the Lititz Public Library, many of which have been borrowed more than 300 times. Beyond the Grave, borrowed 341 times, sends Barnaby looking for clues when the portrait of a wealthy village forefather is found slashed in the local museum. In Blood Will Out, borrowed 330 times, Barnaby is enlisted to keep the peace when the arrival of two feuding gypsy clans disrupts the tranquility of the village.

Other British mystery series available to borrow from the Lititz Public Library include:

Blue Murder
On the job, a single-mother police inspector leaves nannies and parent-teacher conferences behind to solve crimes.

Dalziel & Pascoe
A police superintendent and his partner investigate murders and find a bond forming between them despite their blatantly differing personalities.

George Gently
A former Scotland Yard sleuth tracks murderers in Britain’s North Country.

Hetty Wainthropp Investigates
A steely and motherly 60ish housewife-turned-gumshoe uses her dowdy appearance to blend into her surroundings.

Jonathan Creek
A magician teams up with an investigative journalist to solve nearly impossible cases.

Hamish Macbeth
A Scottish police constable keeps law and order in his own way and tries to avoid being promoted.

Inspector Alleyn Mysteries
A Scotland Yard gentleman detective solves mysteries set in the 1940s.

Life on Mars
After a car accident, a modern-day police detective wakes up to find he has been transported to 1973, and must solve crimes using low-tech, highly aggressive 1970s methods.

Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries
In 1920s Melbourne, a glamourous lady detective solves crimes with a pistol close at hand.

Murder in Suburbia
Two female police detectives solve murders in the upscale suburban English town of Middleford.

New Tricks
A team of semi-retired and somewhat curmudgeonly detectives reinvestigate cold cases.

The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
A recently bereaved woman sets up the only woman-run private detective agency in Botswana.

Rosemary & Thyme
Two amateur sleuths, who start a gardening business together, dig up plots and conspiracies and use their investigative skills to get to the bottom of things.

Death in Paradise
A British cop is a fish out of water when he is sent to work on the tiny Caribbean island of Sainte Marie.

March 27, 2015