Tainted Fruit is the first episode of the fifth series of Midsomer Murders. It was first shown on 23rd September 2001.
Barnaby and Troy go to the village of Midsomer Malham to investigate some threatening letters sent to Melissa Townsend, a young woman managing some properties for her father. Some accuse her of killing a local man by refusing to fix the house he was living in, causing him to catch pneumonia and die. Melissa has also slept with several married men, causing several divorces. She visits a local Tennis Do at the local tennis club, causing a scene before storming out. The same night a local vet suffers a break-in and several bottles of Pentobarbitone and syringes are stolen. Melissa are later found dead the next day, with a syringe with Pentobarbitone stuck in her stomach. Barnaby must now found out who killed Melissa Townsend.
Tropes:
- Blackmail Backfire: The first and second victims tried to blackmail the murderer, who killed them instead.
- Bluffing the Murderer: Barnaby realizes that the murderer has planted the murder weapon in another person's handbag, so he tells the murderer he searched the handbag before, finding nothing incriminating. When he opens the bag and pulls out the weapon, the murderer confesses. Afterwards, it's revealed that he lied about having already checked the bag.
- Drunk Driver: Sally Rickworth drove home drunk after the Tennis Do and crashed into a neighbor's car before falling asleep behind the wheel.
- Gold Digger: Melissa tells Sally Rickworth to marry multi-millionaire Frederick Bentine-Brown (who had proposed to Sally) and divorce him in a year or two and take his money.
- Hanging by the Fingers: The second victim falls through a barn ceiling after the floorboards were partially sawn through. He manages to grab one of the floorboards, but the plank loosens and he falls down on to a plow, killing him.
- He Knows Too Much: All victims in the episode were killed after they discovered the murderer's past crimes.
- Social Climber: Georgina Canning, who desperately wants to get on the committee of the Midsomer Horse Society.
