History Series / TheBrokenwoodMysteries

[[caption-width-right:350:Kristin, Mike, Sam, and Mike's CoolCar]]

** KindheartedSimpleton Frodo to Kimberly: "I'm not his girlfriend!" She isn't the only one he's had unreciprocated feelings for, and every object of his affections pities his plight.

* AllegedCar: Mike's beloved [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holden_Kingswood Holden Kingswood]] is an original, which is a distinctly different category from mint condition.

* EveryoneIsASuspect: Usually many of the episode's cast has means, motive, and opportunity.

* SickbedSlaying: Attempted on [[spoiler:Jared]] after the initial murder attempt failed. Happens again with [[spoiler:Roger Plummer]] in the eighth season, which is luckily interrupted by a nurse.

New Zealand [[DetectiveDrama Detective Drama]] (2014-) set in the fictional town of [[{{Barsetshire}} Brokenwood]]. Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Shepherd is sent to investigate a mysterious death and decides to take a demotion to settle down in the quiet, rural backwater. Working alongside him on cases are [[ActionGirl Det. Kristin Sims]] and [[ButtMonkey D.C. Sam Breen]], who help piece together the surprisingly frequent (and oftentimes gristly) murders in town. 30 episodes have aired as of 2021.

* AbhorrentAdmirer: [[spoiler: Gina]] to Mike. Frodo to Kimberly: "I'm not his girlfriend!"

* BeAsUnhelpfulAsPossible: Suspects, or even just interviewees who aren't suspects, have a problem with telling the detectives the full story/truth when asked to. Oftentimes, people will have to give multiple statements because the original ones weren't accurate.

* EatTheEvidence: In one episode, recipients of a letter are told to do this. They readily comply.

* EurekaMoment: Almost every episode.

* MysteryOfTheWeek: Hardly surprising, given the episodic format. There are almost no meta-episode arcs beyond recurring cast members

* RunningGag: Kristin's inability to make a decent cup of coffee.

* SickbedSlaying: Attempted on [[spoiler:Jared]] after the initial murder attempt failed.

* TakenOffTheCase: Breen is sidelined for a case where the victim is his own rugby coach. When Mike and Kristin pay him a visit at his house, they discover that his time away has been taken up by gaming and his girlfriend's insistence that he repaint their house. Mike calls in Area Commander Hughes to interview Breen and confirm that there is no conflict of interest before he's allowed back on the case (finally letting him escape doing more home improvement).
* TakingTheHeat: Suspects covering for each other (like a daughter or her mother, or three sisters all confessing to a one-person crime) happens with some degree of regularity.

[[caption-width-right:350:Kristen, Mike, Sam, and Mike's CoolCar]]
New Zealand [[DetectiveDrama Detective Drama]] (2014-) set in the fictional town of [[{{Barsetshire}} Brokenwood]]. Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Shepherd is sent to investigate a mysterious death and decides to take a demotion to settle down in the quiet, rural backwater. Working alongside him on cases are [[ActionGirl Det. Kristen Sims]] and [[ButtMonkey D.C. Sam Breen]], who help piece together the surprisingly frequent (and oftentimes gristly) murders in town. 30 episodes have aired as of 2021.

* BackForTheDead: Tania, the wit-pro woman from the first season, appears again at the end of the seventh because she wants to secure protection for her children [[spoiler: after she dies of cancer.]]

* CozyMystery: Often subverted - despite taking place in a small community, murderers and victims and suspects often have very ... ''interesting'' ... secrets.

* PsychoLesbian: Revealed to be the murderer in two different episodes, the second of which features first psycho lesbian as a returning character.
* PutOnAPrisonBus: With very few exceptions.

* SerialSpouse: Mike, and his (at least) three ex-wives.

New Zealand [[DetectiveDrama Detective Drama]] (2014-) set in the fictional town of [[{{Barsetshire}} Brokenwood]]. Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Shepherd is sent to investigate a mysterious death and decides to take a demotion to settle down in the quiet, rural backwater. Working alongside him on cases are [[ActionGirl Det. Kristen Sims]] and [[ButtMonkey D.C. Sam Breen]], who help piece together the surprisingly frequent (and oftentimes gristly) murders in town. 30 episodes have been aired as of 2021.

* AbhorrentAdmirer: [[spoiler: Gina]] to Mike. Frodo from Kimberly's: "I'm not his girlfriend!"

* AnimalThemeNaming: The bars in Brokenwood - The Frog and Cheetah, Toad and Lion and the Snake and Tiger.

* EveryoneIsASuspect: Usually many of the subsidiary cast has means, motive, and opportunity.

* NeverTheObviousSuspect: Well, except once, and even then the murderer had a cast iron alibi, appearing on CCTV in a garage miles away.

* TalkingToTheDead: Mike will almost always ask questions of the corpse when he first encounters it. This habit seems odd to Sims the first time she sees it.
* WeDoNotKnowEachOther: Mike and Tania pretend to be strangers so as not to blow her witness-protection cover. Others realize that something's up but never figure out what.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bwm_crop_2.png]]

New Zealand [[DetectiveDrama Detective Drama]] (2014-) set in the fictional town of [[{{Barsetshire}} Brokenwood]]. Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Shepherd is sent to investigate a mysterious death and decides to take a demotion to settle down in the quiet, rural backwater. Working alongside him on cases are [[ActionGirl Det. Kristen Sims]] and [[ButtMonkey]] D.C. Sam Breen, who help piece together the surprisingly frequent (and oftentimes gristly) murders in town.

New Zealand [[DetectiveDrama Detective Drama]] set in the fictional town of [[{{Barsetshire}} Brokenwood]]. Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Shepherd is sent to investigate a mysterious death and decides to take a demotion to settle down in the quiet, rural backwater.

* AmoralAttorney: There is no-one Dennis Buchannan will not try to smarm out of the police station.

New Zealand based [[DetectiveDrama Detective Drama]] set in the fictional town of [[{{Barsetshire}} Brokenwood]]. Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Shepherd is sent to investigate a mysterious death and [[spoiler: after his predecessor is found to be the murderer]] decides to take a demotion and settle down in the quiet rural backwater.

* AbhorrentAdmirer: [[spoiler: Gina]] from Mike's point of view. Frodo from Kimberley's: "I'm not his girlfriend!"
* AllegedCar: Mike's beloved [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holden_Kingswood Holden Kingswood]].

* CoolOldLady: Jean Marlowe who seems to have her fingers in every pie in Brokenwood.
* CozyMystery: Often subverted - despite taking place in a small community, murderers and victims and suspects often have very ... interesting ... secrets.
* EagleEyeDetection: Both Mike and Kristin are constantly spotting small, seemingly irrelevant details - he normally spots things, she is better at spotting people's actions and reactions.

* IntrepidReporter: Subverted - the only recurring journalist is an interfering busybody who frequently impedes police progress.
* LethalChef: Never let Sims make you coffee. Or cake.

* MysteryMagnet: well, more Murder Magnet. In a town with such a tiny population, there are a LOT of murders - and each conveniently confined to a previously unmentioned niche in Brokenwood's cultural hodgepodge.

* RedHerring: More than you'd find in a communist fishmongers.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: When young, good looking, Maori Jared is not around in Series 4, he is replaced by young, good looking Maori Kahu, who just happens to be Jared's cousin.
* TalkingToTheDead: Mike will almost always ask questions of the corpse when he first encounters it. This habit seems odd to Sims the first time she sees it.

* SerialSpouse: Mike, and his three ex-wives.

* AllegedCar: Mike's beloved [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holden_Kingswood Holden Kingswood]]

* CozyMystery: Often subverted - despite taking place in a small community, murderers and victims and suspects often have very ... interesting ... secrets
* EagleEyeDetection: Both Mike and Kristin are constantly spotting small, seemingly irrelevant details - he normally spots things, she is better at spotting people's actions and reactions
* EurekaMoment: Almost every episode
* EveryoneIsASuspect: Usually many of the subsidiary cast has means, motive, and opportunity
* FairPlayWhodunnit: All the information is presented (the later series are better at this) but sometimes it's concealed within other clues

* GuiltyUntilSomeoneElseIsGuilty: Every episode has an 'obvious' but incorrect suspect, and usually a few less obvious, but equally incorrect, ones
* IntrepidReporter: Subverted - the only recurring journalist is an interfering busybody who frequently impedes police progress

* TheMainCharactersDoEverything: It's a small town, but the only people who ever do anything on a case are the four main cast members
* MysteryMagnet: well, more Murder Magnet. In a town with such a tiny population, there are a LOT of murders - and each conveniently confined to a previously unmentioned niche in Brokenwood's cultural hodgepodge

* NeverOneMurder: About one third of the episodes feature multiple deaths - sometimes historic ones
* NeverSuicide: Not yet, anyway
* NeverTheObviousSuspect: Well, except once, and even then the murderer had a cast iron alibi
* PutOnAPrisonBus: With very few exceptions
* PuzzleThriller: Most episodes require the actual sequence of events to be carefully unpicked by the detectives

* RedHerring: More than you'd find in a communist fishmongers

* TheSummation: Frequently takes place in the police station interview room as a pile of damning evidence is dumped in front of the murderer
* SummationGathering: At least once per series

* AbhorrentAdmirer: [[spoiler: Gina]] from Mike's point of view.

* TalkingToTheDead: Mike will almost always ask questions of the corpse when he first encounters it. This habit seems odd to Sims the first time she sees it.
* TheGhost: Breen's girlfriend Roxy always has something else on.

* EagleEyedDetection: Both Mike and Kristin are constantly spotting small, seemingly irrelevant details - he normally spots things, she is better at spotting people's actions and reactions

* TheGhost: Breen's girlfriend Roxy always has something else on.

* TalkingToTheDead: Mike will almost always ask questions of the corpse when he first encounters it. This habit seems odd to Sims the first time she sees it.

* AllegedCar: Mike's beloved Holden Kingswood

* Alleged Car: Mike's beloved Holden Kingswood

* CordonBleughChef: Never let Sims make you coffee. Or cake.

* LethalChef: Never let Sims make you coffee. Or cake.

* AnimalThemeNaming: The bars in Brokenwood - The Frog and Cheetah and the Toad and Lion.

* SerialSpouse: Mike, and his three ex-wives.