Landscapes of Thrift and Dwelling: Dwelling and Sociality in Midsomer Murders

In its long history of airing the popular crime series Midsomer Murders does not only present various murder cases but also a glimpse into the opinions on gender, sexuality, age and ethnicity. These opinions mirror the attitude of the producers as well as the anticipated expectations of the audience. The dicussion of these aspects are inseperately linked to the categories of thrift and dwelling and it seems that the ways of living in Midsomer County are always overwriting the questions of guilt, atonement and punishment. Furthermore the episodes of the series offer strategies to an aesthetic evaluation of sociality in an fictional countryside. Here murders become not only a question of morality and crime but show the depth of human nature as a hidden reality underneath the scenery of rural purity.