Midsomer Murders – Murder by Magic

The second episode of this series has a distinct magical flavour, as Barnaby must attempt to unravel a murder linked to a famous magician. ‘Murder by Magic’ is a good episode that hits a lot of familiar beats, and is generally enjoyable instalment that never takes much in the way of risks.

During a magic show helmed by famous illusionist Gideon Latimer (Andrew Lee Potts), a stunt appears to go wrong and crushes local pub landlady Hannah Altman to death. However, after Kate discovers that the safety wires were sabotaged, a murder investigation is launched. Barnaby must discover whether Altman or Latimer was the actual target of the murder, and comes up against a number of obstacles and conflicts. The local church is trying to dissuade the village’s ancient pagan traditions, with vicar Magnus Soane (Jack Shepherd) and his curate clashing over how to handle it. And the Latimer house is ruled by two contrasting women – Gideon’s wife Annabel (Stephanie Leonidas) and his overbearing mother (Amanda Burton). Can Barnaby figure out what is exacerbating the conflict in the village, and find the murderer before they kill again?

The narrative in ‘Murder by Magic’ mostly works

‘Murder by Magic’ boasts the typical strong Midsomer supporting cast, including two iconic TV crime solvers in their own right: Amanda Burton shines as the domineering maternal presence in Gideon’s life, and I greatly enjoyed Jack Shepherd as the local vicar, in one of the show’s only examples of a Christian with some personality. Potts convinces as a magician, and several of the smaller players (Joe Absalom as Hannah’s husband and Deborah Findlay as Soane’s wife) get a lot to do, making them viable suspects and characters in their own right. Sadly, not every character is as lucky, but this episode generally fits them all in.

The narrative in ‘Murder by Magic’ mostly works, although I’d be lying if I said that I found the final solution to be anything other than underwhelming (particularly as a key piece of information comes a few minutes before the reveal). Given the opportunity for magical murders, there’s a lot for the show to play with, and the first death is certainly one of Midsomer’s most spectacular – so, it was a shame that everything that follows doesn’t run with the theme too much. My other issue is that, despite the pagan stuff looking absolutely beautiful and being framed in a really dramatic way (kudos to director Charlie Palmer), I’m at a loss to explain how it does anything more than tangentially interact with the narrative.

‘Murder by Magic’ is a solid episode of Midsomer with a strong cast, but it’s not much more than that. Most of what you’ll see here has been done in other Midsomers, and it has generally been done a lot better. I enjoyed ‘Murder by Magic’ and I was certainly engaged with the episode, but I don’t think it’s going to go down as a standout – it’s a step up from last week, so if we continue on this trajectory, series 17 can still be essential viewing.