History Series / MidsomerMurders

* AssholeVictim: At least three quarters of the dead people.
** The truly unfortunate cases, though, are the ones where the murderer goes after the AssholeVictim's (usually but not always) innocent ''family'' instead.
** Played with in "A Vintage Murder". The victims aren't very nice people, [[spoiler: but they weren't involved in a hit-and-run that killed a little girl. When the murderer (the girl's mother) finds out, she's horrified.]]

* AwfulWeddedLife: Nearly half the couples seen. In "Hidden Depths", for example, a woman was not only a witness to her husband's bizarre murder, she ''calls out corrections when the murderer misses''.

** The second VictimOfTheWeek in "Judgement Day" dies after drinking poisoned wine meant for another person.

* FacialHorror: In "The Stitcher's Society", [[NeverOneMurder the third]] VictimOfTheWeek is killed when one barrel of his shotgun is stuffed with rages, causing it to backfire in face. TheCoroner Fleur Perkins comments that there wasn't much left of his face afterwards.

* GrammarCorrectionGag: In "Death and Dust", a woman (a retired English teacher) receives an anonymous note, warning her about her fiance's past affairs. The note turns out to be from her children who do not want her to remarry. When she finds out, she delivers a stinging response that ends with:

* MakeItLookLikeAStruggle: In "Dead in the Water", a jeweller conspires with some of his friends to rob his own store. The jeweller is left BoundAndGagged in a chair in the vault, but one of the robbers decides to make he scenario look more realistic by smacking him hard in the face.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: When John Nettles left the series, DCI Tom Barnaby retired, to be replaced by his decades-younger and somewhat more energetic cousin DCI ''John'' Barnaby, who still looks fairly close in age. They did hang a {{lampshade}} on it in the episode where John Barnaby was introduced, but really, it's like they're not even trying. The name at least might be chalked up as an EnforcedTrope due to the show being called "Inspector Barnaby" in certain other markets (France, Italy, Germany, and Japan according to Website/TheOtherWiki).

* ConstructiveBodyDisposal: In "Red in Tooth & Claw", the killer attempts to bury his final victim (while still alive) in the concrete being poured for the foundation of a new heating oil tank, but is stopped by Barnaby and Winter.

* IllTakeTwoBeersToo: An early episode had Joyce in a bar with a friend who ordered two large whiskies and soda, then asked Joyce if she wanted anything.

** Played with in "A Vintage Murder". The victims aren't very nice people, [[spoiler: but they weren't involved in a hit-and-run that killed a little girl. When the killer finds out, she's horrified.]]

* IJustShotMarvinInTheFace: Exploited in "Send in the Clowns", which opens with Les Morrison trying to prank Terry Bellini during a performance with a prop gun, only for Bellini to be fatally shot through the heart. Everything appears to point to Morrison having grabbed a loaded gun without realizing it. However, a forensic report reveals that the bullet was indeed blank -- the round that killed Bellini was from a rifle, which was shot simultaneously with Morrison's handgun and at a similar angle to give the illusion that he had a live gun.

* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: In "The Oblong Murders", one killing was committed by loosening the gas line to the stove on a boat, causing the boat to fill with gas. The killer then called the victim as she arrived back on the boat, knowing that she always lit a cigarette while talking on the phone. Result: one 'accidental' explosion.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: When John Nettles left the series, DCI Tom Barnaby retired, to be replaced by his decades-younger and somewhat more energetic cousin DCI ''John'' Barnaby, who still looks fairly close in age. They did hang a {{lampshade}} on it in the episode where John Barnaby was introduced, but really, it's like they're not even trying. The name at least might be chalked up as an EnforcedTrope due to the show being called "Inspector Barnaby" in certain other markets (France, Italy, Germany, and Japan according to Wiki/TheOtherWiki).

* YouAreAlreadyDead: In "Destroying Angel", the look on the face of the physician when he learns that a patient has eaten not one but ''several'' titular mushrooms says it all. Naturally, the patient didn't survive.

** The second VictimOfTheWeek in "Wild Harvest" is killed when the killer swaps the wild celery for the soup they are preparing with highly toxic hemlock waterdrop.

* TamperingWithFoodAndDrink: The first crime in "A Vintage Murder" involves the wine being served at a wine tasting at a winery being poisoned.

* TrappedInASinkingCar: "Dark Secrets" opens with a flashback to 1975 where a brother and sister are involved in an accident where their speeding car runs off the road and into the river; leaving them biith trapped in the sinking car. This accident proves pivotal to several murders that take place 25 years later.