Unless you live under a rock, you’re probably familiar with the popular British television mystery series Midsomer Murders, featuring John Nettles as Chief Inspector Barnaby. As popular and long-running as the series is, it’s easy to forget that Caroline Graham’s novels came first and served as the inspiration for the series. The Killings at Badger’s Drift (1987) was the first and won three separate mystery awards for Best First Novel.
The television series does a great job with the main characters, especially Chief Inspector Barnaby. In the books, however, minor characters are much more deeply explored than in the show. Graham gets into the characters’ heads and reveals human complexity rivaling that of P.D. James’s Adam Dalgliesh series. The show has a more cozy, lighthearted tone than the books but you’ll find the books are much meatier.
I read A Ghost in the Machine, the seventh entry in the series. In the village of Forbes Abbott, a beloved eccentric is gruesomely murdered with one of the bizarre military contraptions in his macabre collection. Several villagers have motives for killing Dennis Brinkley. The narration alternates between the suspects and the investigating officers, Chief Inspector Barnaby and Sergeant Troy. As usual, a second murder serves to complicate matters – although the total body count, at two, seems quite modest compared to a typical episode of Midsomer Murders.
If you’re a cozy village mystery fan, or a Midsomer Murders fan, definitely check out Graham’s books. If you’ve read her books but never tried the TV series, you’ll find them great fun. But you’d better get cracking — there are thirteen seasons and counting!
Check the WRL catalog for A Ghost in the Machine
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