Echoes of the Dead is the third episode of the fourteenth series of Midsomer Murders and first aired on 20 April 2011.
Dianne Price is left dead in the style of the Brides in the Bath murders of almost a century earlier. Blessed be the Bride is scrawled in lipstick on her bathroom mirror. Her grieving flatmate Jo, who works at a donkey sanctuary run by hard-drinking Liz Tomlin and her antagonistic son Sam, takes the opportunity to escape her voyeuristic landlord Bernard Flack to move in with vet Fran Carter but Fran too is killed, also in a copycat murder from the 1930s, again bridal-related. Pub landlord Matt Rowntree, an ex-cop, is married to Nikki, a former madame whose girls specialized in dressing up fantasies which arouses Barnaby's suspicions but then an elderly couple are slain, with Just Married written on their car and Bridal Suite on the door. Bernard's voyeurism actually saves Jo's life as he calls the police to arrest the murderer, out to claim a fifth victim.
Tropes:
- Deadly Bath: Dianne Price is found submerged in a petal-strewn bath, dressed as a bride.
- Dead Man's Chest: Fran Carter's dismembered body is placed in a wicker hamper and left in a railway station.
- Jack the Ripoff: Barnaby recognises the murders as recreations of famous murders of the early 20th century, except for the last one, which he's not able to place. When the murderer, David Orchard, is caught, Barnaby asks about it, and David shrugs and says, "I was in a hurry and I couldn't think of anything".
- The Peeping Tom: Landlord Bernard Flack keeps making excuses to visit the property he rents to Dianne and Jo so he can spy on them. Bernard's voyeurism actually saves Jo's life as he calls the police to arrest the murderer, out to claim a fifth victim.
- Theme Serial Killer: David Orchard, who based his murders on old murder cases, such as George Joseph Smith.
