Have to say I found this a quite absorbing "Midsomer Murder" in spite of some of the criticisms I read on this board.
After Barnaby arrests Annie Woodrow for the murder of her friend, Frances Trevelyan, it's time for her trial. Barnaby and Jones attend. To Barnaby's surprise, Annie pleads not guilty, although he thought she would change her plea to avoid a trial. After all, the evidence against her was solid.
But was it?
Annie's motive for murdering her old friend seems to have been her complete obsession with Frances' husband, whom Annie had been in love with in the past. She's now married to a music executive who is a real jerk, and she's not happy. But she has always insisted she had nothing to do with Frances' murder.
Something is bothering Barnaby, but he's not sure what. He was confident of his evidence, and now he wonders. An old friend, Pru Plunkett, a psychiatrist and also a friend of Annie, tells him that before the murder, Annie was planning to move out of the area. It's time to look at the evidence again.
This was, as has been pointed out, a different structure from the usual MM. I thought it was good, particularly the intimation that Pru Plunkett may have been more than an old friend of Barnaby's. I also liked the elderly female witness who wants to help with the case.
The plot was absorbing, and though Joyce Barnaby was away, we saw her during a phone call with Cully, who visited home. I loved Cully looking at Pru with suspicion.
Very good.
After Barnaby arrests Annie Woodrow for the murder of her friend, Frances Trevelyan, it's time for her trial. Barnaby and Jones attend. To Barnaby's surprise, Annie pleads not guilty, although he thought she would change her plea to avoid a trial. After all, the evidence against her was solid.
But was it?
Annie's motive for murdering her old friend seems to have been her complete obsession with Frances' husband, whom Annie had been in love with in the past. She's now married to a music executive who is a real jerk, and she's not happy. But she has always insisted she had nothing to do with Frances' murder.
Something is bothering Barnaby, but he's not sure what. He was confident of his evidence, and now he wonders. An old friend, Pru Plunkett, a psychiatrist and also a friend of Annie, tells him that before the murder, Annie was planning to move out of the area. It's time to look at the evidence again.
This was, as has been pointed out, a different structure from the usual MM. I thought it was good, particularly the intimation that Pru Plunkett may have been more than an old friend of Barnaby's. I also liked the elderly female witness who wants to help with the case.
The plot was absorbing, and though Joyce Barnaby was away, we saw her during a phone call with Cully, who visited home. I loved Cully looking at Pru with suspicion.
Very good.