Midsomer Murders: Set Eight (The Maid in Splendour / The Straw Woman / Ghosts of Christmas Past)
Idyllic Midsomer county has an alarmingly high mortality rate--at least on television. As actor John Nettles comments in a charming interview, after several series of the murder mystery programMidsomer Murdersonly a handful of villagers would be left alive. The show's writers tried to lower the body count to a more plausible number, but viewers complained, so Midsomer is as lethal as ever.Set Eight, featuring three episodes fromMidsomer Murders' seventh series, racks up its share of corpses as the ever-observant DCI Barnaby (Nettles) and his brash right hand man Dan Scott (John Hopkins) sort through a tale of unrequited love and secret real estate deals that mirrors an old legend, a collision of the church and pagan ways that sparks several flaming deaths, and a Christmas gathering that turns murderous as the truth about a long-ago suicide comes out.Midsomer Murdersis topnotch: The 90-100 minute episode length allows each episode to unfold intricate plots while cultivating a distinct atmosphere and establishing vivid characters.  Anchoring it all is Nettles, whose combination of gravitas and sly wit make him not only an excellent detective but a delightful and engaging personality. Hopkins is less charismatic, but he provides a suitable foil for his senior colleague. Aside from the interview with Nettles, the extras are modest: A map of the county, a handful of cast filmographies, and a slender bit of biography about Caroline Graham, the mystery novelist who created DCI Barnaby and his rural miasma of passion, jealousy, and bitter revenge.--Bret Fetzer