Welcome to Mistpuddle.
"I'm sure you're all wondering why I've gathered you here. I'm sure you're all wondering why the village is home to woodland creatures with a taste for tea, cakes and secrets. And I'm sure you're all wondering where the Doctor has vanished to. The truth is not as quaint as the pretty cottages and mostly cute residents would have you believe.
Murder has come to Mistpuddle. And no-one is leaving until we uncover whodunnit."
The Mistpuddle Murders contains examples of:
- Amateur Sleuth: In the Doctor's absence, Nyssa and Tegan prove that they are quite capable investigators when they put their minds to it.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: Whenever Tegan gets too close to going overboard with the snark, Nyssa tries to rein her in by using the Doctor's pointed "yes, thank you, Tegan".
- Civilized Animal: Apart from the occasional murder, the denizens of Mistpuddle are extremely civilized.
- Cozy Mystery: Takes place entirely in a small, isolated village populated with bio-engineered talking animals.
- Death Glare: Tegan gives one to Nyssa when she suggests that Tegan's training as an air stewardess should have prepared her for serving tea to others.
- Distressed Dude: The Doctor just cannot catch a break.
- Fair-Play Whodunnit: There are plenty of clues about the murderer's true identity throughout the story, but they mostly only become clear after a repeat listen.
- Good Cop/Bad Cop: A pretty mild example, but Nyssa and Tegan essentially fill these respective roles, with Nyssa being much more gentle and calm in her questioning and Tegan relying heavily on her trademark snark. She's also the one to restrain Pricklethorp when he makes a break for it.
- Magic Feather: The "morality serum" the Doctor injects Pricklethorp with at the end does basically nothing, but the Doctor believes that the fear of a virus will keep him in line.
- Uplifted Animal: The late Dr Leslie Wood was both a prolific children's author and a gifted bioengineer, and she put her skills to use to create an entire village of talking animals, based on the characters in her books.
- World of Funny Animals: Or, at least, a village.
