Midsomer Life is the fourth episode of the eleventh series of Midsomer Murders and originally aired 31st May 2008.
Christina Finleyson's husband, who left Midsomer for London years earlier, is found dead in his car in the woods at the back of Christina's ex-husband's house. Inquiries lead to the hotel where Christina's brother Martin is head barman and where a mystery man booked an appointment to see Guy Sandys, editor of the glossy "Midsomer Life" magazine. Sandys is found stabbed to death after expecting to receive an envelope and when alcoholic hotel housekeeper Eleanor Crouch voices her suspicions about the mystery guest she ends up dead in a tumble dryer. Barnaby discovers that years earlier a miscarriage of justice had been perpetrated which only now certain people are aiming to rectify and which the original criminal is anxious to keep secret, striking at the heart of Midsomer Life.
Tropes:
- Accidental Murder: Charlie Finleyson had been trying to escape from someone who just intended to scare him off when he suffered a fatal heart attack. The attacker hid the body in the woods, and its discovery two weeks later triggered a string of actual murders.
- Bar Brawl: A brawl erupts in the local pub between a group of entitled out-of-towners and the locals who are sick of being patronized. Inspector Barnaby gets punched in the face while trying to break it up.
- Deadpan Snarker: The village of Midsomer Sonning is full of these.
- Use Your Head: Mandy, one of the entitled Londoners staying at the hotel, takes such offense at being called a "Metro tosser" that she headbutts Christina, kickstarting the abovementioned Bar Brawl.
