I'm not sure what I think of this book. I already knew the end because I've watched all of Midsomer Murders (with the original Barnaby, anyway; I don't care for the new one), but I wanted to see what the book was like. I am used to the show's versions of the characters, so I found the book versions unpleasant. All the main characters are less kind and less likeable. If I hadn't watched the show, I'm not sure I would have finished the book at all. For example, Cully, who iirc is mostly lovely in the show, is significantly less so, and Barnaby's view of Joyce is harsher and her cooking worse. Other aspects seem to stem from the book being from 1987, but reading it in 2022 was a little rough; Troy (who is very mean in general) seems to hate everyone who is old, female, and/or gay, but there's some gross stuff from Barnaby as well. I read it knowing it was a product of its time, but it was still jarring. Here is an example of a particularly vicious Troy moment (homophobic): 'Of course, sir', said Sergeant Troy, turning off the Gessler Tye road towards Badger's Drift, 'that could have been arse bandits in the woods. You know... gay.' There could not have been more venom in the last word if the couple had been seen devouring children. ... Before Troy could speak, Barnaby said, 'That had occurred to me as well but, as far as we know, only Dennis Rainbird fits that description. I checked with his partner and he definitely didn't leave work until quarter to five on the Friday. Also there seems no reason why he should conceal any such relationship. It's no longer against the law.' 'More's the pity, said Troy(.) tl;dr: I know that a book can contain characters whose morals and values don't line up with the author's or the audience's and that's fine, of course, but I felt like there was a relishing of the meanness that made it hard for me personally to enjoy the book as much as I had hoped to. If you aren't sensitive to these kinds of things, you'll probably like it more than I did.