The Sting of Death is the third episode in the twenty-first series of Midsomer Murders. It was first streamed in the U.S. on 1 December 2019 on streaming services Acorn TV and Britbox. It aired on ITV 1 in the U.K. on 21 March 2021.
DCI Barnaby and DS Winter are called to the stately home of a master beekeeper after he is injured attempting to apprehend a thief. The village of Granville Norton is abuzz with news of the missing bees, and suspicions fly when one of the locals is stung to death.
Tropes:
- Animal Assassin: The first Victim of the Week is immobilised and then doused in a synthetic pheromone that beekeepers use as a swarm lure. This results in them being stung to death by a swarm of honeybees.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: The murderer commits a series of bee-themed murders. The first victim is stung to death by a swarm of bees; the second is coated in beeswax and turned into a human candle; and the third is almost embalmed alive in honey.
- Scary Stinging Swarm: The first Victim of the Week is doused in a synthetic pheromone that is used as a swarm lure, and stung to death by a swarm of honeybees. The bees are still swarming the body when the police arrive.
- Spice Rack Panacea: A local apiarist claims to have cured his cancer through a regimen of honey and bee venom. He is now doing a thriving trade is selling the honey and venom as an alternative medicine. It turns out he never had cancer. It was a misdiagnosis. However, by the time this was discovered, he was making too much money to come clean, so he paid off his doctors to keep quiet about it. The killer turns out to be someone whose mother had the same form of cancer and eschewed medical treatment in favour of the honey and venom and died.
- Trouble Magnet Gambit: The first Victim of the Week is immobilised and then doused in a synthetic pheromone that beekeepers use as a swarm lure. This results in them being stung to death by a swarm of honeybees.
