Shortly after young Harriet Farmer left home to elope with her boyfriend Finn Robson she was attacked and left in a coma she wouldn't wake up from for a year, Finn disappeared altogether; whether he was killed or ran away nobody knows. One the day she awakens a senior member of the local chess club, of which Harriet's father was the president is murdered. It is naturally assumed that the murder is something to with Harriet's recovery but there are plenty of other motives; the victim was unpopular with other members of the club and the aunt who lived with him didn't seem too upset. There are also wild accusations of poisonings, sexual jealousy and other possibly motives to consider. Before Barnaby and Jones solve the case there will be more death in Midsomer and Harriet will be in danger again.
This episode was fairly silly even by the standards of Midsomer; silly enough that some viewers may find it annoying rather than funny. The core mystery of who attacked Harriet was interesting enough and there were some enjoyable red herrings along the way however things got over the top towards the end when two different barmy characters posed a threat to Harriet. The killer doesn't become apparent till fairly late on unless you eliminate every suspect as soon as they have an obvious motive and assume whoever looks innocent is probably the mad killer! Despite its faults I rather enjoyed the episode; as much for the comedy as the mystery!
This episode was fairly silly even by the standards of Midsomer; silly enough that some viewers may find it annoying rather than funny. The core mystery of who attacked Harriet was interesting enough and there were some enjoyable red herrings along the way however things got over the top towards the end when two different barmy characters posed a threat to Harriet. The killer doesn't become apparent till fairly late on unless you eliminate every suspect as soon as they have an obvious motive and assume whoever looks innocent is probably the mad killer! Despite its faults I rather enjoyed the episode; as much for the comedy as the mystery!