Britain’s “Midsomer Murders” is a perfect show with one perfect episode . . . every one of them. Tom Barnaby lives in some  part of England with quaint small villages and an appalling high murder rate. As DCI Barnaby (I had to google DCI to find out what it was), he shows up at crime scenes. Sure, the crime scenes are different from episode to episode, but they are also the same. Grisly murder, smart-aleck coroner, glib sidekick and perceptive DCI Barnaby.

There is comfort in watching the same different episode night after night (there are 22 glorious seasons!). Many people are suspicious and have very good reasons to kill the victim. They have terrible alibis, every one of them. They always “went home alone.” The suspects walk away from DCI Barnaby in the middle of interrogation; those people have no respect for the detective! One or more of them will get killed during the investigation, so if I thought he or she was the murderer, I am proven wrong.

There is the long-suffering wife, Joyce, who cooks terrible meals, and is often pouting as Tom gets a phone call before taking a bite and running off to investigate some new clue. Tom Barnaby never eats in any episode. He is always about to eat, but is always called away before he can – it is amazing he is still hefty.

It took me a few seasons watching the same perfect episode over and over, with different murders but the same story, to figure out that the murderer was always the least suspicious person. Always: The housekeeper who let DCI Barnaby into the mansion to meet the father of the dead person; The photographer’s assistant who let DCI Barnaby into the darkroom to meet the photographer who found the dead person; The compliant wife who let DCI Barnaby into the den to speak with her husband who was best friends with the dead person. Once I figured that out, it was my challenge to pinpoint the least suspicious person. I became very good at it, and I would say, with pride, that I was right 99% of the time. But of course I was, because it was the same perfect episode for 22 seasons.

Amy Jones Sedivy teaches English and Creative Writing at a small private high school, and lives in Los Angeles with her husband. Together they look forward to the end of the day when they can sit down in front of the TV and go through all the streaming services to find the most interesting show to watch at that moment.