Happy Families

Victor Karras made exclusive board games, which is the kind of profession Midsomer seems to keep on file for days like this. He has died, and the circumstances point to poisoning, so the usual questions about money and old grudges come up before the formalities are done. A man who made games for a living, dying in suspicious circumstances, practically begs for a killer who thinks in moves. The title promises family mayhem in polite clothing, and the episode delivers it in patient doses. Barnaby and DS Jamie Winter are called in to work out who finally tipped the game board over.

The investigation threads through the families attached to Karras, and the episode is patient with them. Eleanor Karras and Danni Karras keep the household side of the story warm, while the thread of suspicion tightens around Paul Matheson and his relative Alicia Matheson. Everyone connected to the dead man looks settled and respectable, and that surface is the point. Midsomer has taught its viewers what polite contentment usually means. The clues arrive the way Karras's games do: in small pieces that only fit together near the end.

Nicholas Hicks-Beach wrote the episode with Caroline Graham, and Audrey Cooke directed. Neil Dudgeon and Nick Hendrix lead the investigation, with Fiona Dolman as Sarah, Annette Badland as Fleur Perkins, Stuart Milligan as Victor Karras, Rachael Stirling as Eleanor Karras, Paul Bazely as Paul Matheson, Georgina Rich as Alicia Matheson, Vanessa Emme as Danni Karras and Ed White as Andrew Welles. The casting is comfortable, which is what an episode like this needs.

This is a slow-burn episode, and the patience pays off. The motive, when it surfaces, has been sitting in plain sight the whole time, which is the mark of a fair puzzle. And watching Barnaby put it together is the pleasure of the thing. Sometimes the most comforting crime drama is the one that lets you feel clever for an hour and a half.