Death in Disguise: A Midsomer Murders Mystery, Book 3

When the “Master” of an outré spiritual commune is murdered during a past-lives ritual, Inspector Barnaby embarks on one of the most confusing cases of his life. The witnesses spout so much metaphysical drivel and supernatural claptrap, that Barnaby is hard pressed to get a clear picture of the crime.One witness is big on channeling a Great Mind and tuning into the Intergalactic World Brain. Another boasts powers of healing. The community does include some genuinely kind hearts, but even the kindest of them make no sense.People are not what they seem in this story, and this leads to more than one death. Barnaby does solve the Master’s murder in the end, but not without some humiliating oversights along the way.I found the airy-fairy rigamarole a bit tiresome. But Caroline Graham does present us with some fascinating characters in this novel — and a rather charming middle-aged love story. I’m enjoying all the Inspector Barnaby novels.

Storyline mostly very intriguing except that Caroline Graham seems to have forgotten what she was writing about for almost a whole long chapter. All that babbling on at beginning will make you want to put the book down and just say what a waste of time. Thankfully the author gets back on track and we get a great Barnaby mystery.Again the so called Master of all goodness is a conman. I wonder how people fall for that crap.Anyway, story was good, main characters great as ever. Caroline, please don't go off the subject like that again, I don't think I will have the patients to read on again.

One of the things that sets this series apart from other murder mysteries or police procedurals is that the books don't start off with a murder. Instead, the author tells a story about the characters for about one quarter to one third of the book before anyone dies. I haven't figured out whether this tactic makes it more or less difficult to figure out who the murderer is, but it seems more like real life. People to about their normal business with no idea that tragedy is about to strike.

I was surprised to find the book so different from the British TV series. This book & another I rèad are entertainingly written.This book fills in information about the main character's & even contradicts "facts" about the Barnaby world v. the video.Another reason to read books in this series - even if you have watched them on TV - is that Ms Caroline Graham is a terrific writer. Her descriptions of Characters & their inner narratives are very rewarding.Some stretches are longer than I thought necessary so I am deducting a star. But don't let that stop you from reading this book.

I first became aware of this author through the British television series, Midsomer Murders, which I loved. Her detective novels were the basis for the series. In fact, this book was the genesis for one of the episode in the series. So, I looked forward to reading it.This book is actually the third book in a number of murder mysteries featuring Detective Chief Investigator Tom Barnaby, one very intelligent detective with an astute understanding of human nature, and a wickedly dry sense of humor. He investigates murder cases in a cluster of small English villages in his jurisdiction, accompanied by his sidekick, Sergeant Troy.Here, Barnaby investigates the murder of the leader of a spiritual commune, a man to which there is more than meets the eye. He is murdered in plain view of his disciples and guests, just as one of them was undergoing a past life regression. Now, who among them would think of doing something so audacious as to commit a murder during such a spectacle?It should be noted that this murder dues not occur til chapter six, about a third way into the book. Til then the book pretty much meanders into a back story about the commune and its disciples. Some of it is amusing, and it certainly showcases the authors writing talent. Others looking for a more traditional murder mystery may find it somewhat tedious.Those more interested in the whodunnit aspects of the book will enjoy what follows, beginning with chapter seven. That is when Detective Chief Investigator Barnaby figures more prominently and begins his interviews and investigation, eventually putting together all the pieces and bringing it to a satisfying denouement. Still, even that portion of the book is largely interspersed with the daily travails of the members of the commune, which even I, after a point, found a tad tedious. Overall, I derived a modicum of enjoyment from the book.

I always enjoy the Inspector Barnaby mysteries, especially after seeing the Midsomers Mystery series on TV. So, I decided to read the actual books the series game from. I find the books to be well written, with interesting characters and deliciously devious plots. I had a hard time figuring out who the villain was in this one. Although, at times I found myself laughing out loud about some of the characters at the Lodge of the Golden Windhorse. All in all, a good read and I look forward to reading more in the Inspector Barnaby series

Okay, I am still a fan of Inspector Barnaby. This book took a left turn into the lives of the psychic commune people, and I missed my sane Barnaby. Also the friction at home just seemed to come out of left field. Didn't appreciate the rich jerk dad who basically mauled / raped one of the girls, and Troy is just mostly a filthy toad. He's not improved and he needs repeatedly smacked.

Barnaby is confounded by this house of mystics that can't seem to come to earth even after their leaders murder. But as always the truth finally cones out.

At a rough guess 75% of this book had nothing to do with a murder mystery. I appreciate the need to set the scene but this was mainly scene and comparatively action or important content. Far too much time was squandered on the activities and views of the inhabitants of a commune and fairly little was of direct relevance to the plot development. The person who should have been the main character, Chief Inspector Barnaby, did not feature until well into the book. I found much of the text boring and difficult to follow, especially as regards the outcome for the accused. Indeed, so fed up was I at the end of the book that I could not bring myself to read the additional irrelevancies offered in the epilogue. I found it difficult to believe that this book had been written by the same person who wrote the Badgers Drift book.

The 'Midsomer Murders' detective stories are absolutely first class. There are just seven, which is a pity, but I have bought and read them all, and thoroughly enjoyed the brilliant tales that have unfolded. Well drawn characters, and a plot that keeps you guessing to almost the end. Surprisingly Tom Barnaby and Troy often don't appear until half way through, or even further into the book, and Troy is a very different character to that in the TV series - not particularly likeable, he is racist, bigoted, and usually rather slow on the uptake. I would strongly recommend these books.

This is the third in the Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby series, following on from  The Killings At Badger's Drift  and  Death of a Hollow Man . It is set largely in a New Age Commune, in the village of Compton Dando, where the 'Master' oversees a group of believers, mystics and those who merely seek refuge under the roof of the Manor House. Barely have the group recovered from an inquest into the 'accidental' death of one of their members, found dead at the foot of the stairs, when another tragedy befalls them. The Master has invited the wealthy, estranged father of one of his flock, Suhami (real name Sylvie Gamelin) to dinner. Soon, Sylvie will come of age and is due to inherit a large trust fund. As money, jealousy, love and need rear their heads, the next death cannot be called an accident.Barnaby and Troy investigate the murder, they struggle with the members of the commmune who have secrets to hide and beliefs that the more level headed policemen find bizarre. As the commune struggles to come to terms with the changes they face, a sense of 'family' and belonging pervades this novel. Barnaby himself feels guilt - pulled one way by work and the other by the needs of his wife and daughter.This is a well plotted mystery, with an interesting plot and well rounded characters. The Barnaby series is a satisfying one, as the books (which often remind me of P.D. James) take a group of people (such as those in the commune, or, as in the previous novel, an amateur dramatic society) and let you become really involved in their lives and problems. This is a good addition to a great series and highly recommended. The Killings At Badger's DriftDeath of a Hollow Man

I was a little wary of this one, not of course fearing Caroline Graham would have lost her touch but rather fearing, since she always meticulously sets the scenes that the astral mumbo jumbo might be abundant and hard to take. And so it was at first! Reading about the New Age community meant reading quite a lot of nonsense and being more than a little confused by all those celestial bodies the adepts communicate with. And knowing from a previous review that Barnaby didn't appear until page 137 (which in fact was rather page 152) I thought I might be overwhelmed by it all. This wasn't the case in fact because Caroline Graham wrote so many funny lines that were like little pearls strewn here and there that the experience started to be intensely entertaining. There were also the pages concerning the Gamelins, where the mumbo jumbo couldn't be used, and although their characters were far from appealing, those pages written in good plain English provided a nice rest from all the regressions and astral cleansing of the community .All in all it was an excellent reading experience, a good mixing of appalling and endearing characters (Gamelin for the appalling and Arno and May for the endearing ones) and as always an incredibly detailed, interesting and convincing rendering of varied personalities. Graham really never fails in describing someone spot on and making them intensely real for the reader even when their roles as masters or adepts could easily lead a lesser writer to write caricatural portraits. Not so here! There's talent aplenty even when describing the goat Calypso. A very good mystery with a great number of very witty lines.

What a dull book. I'm only 140 pages into it and nothing's happened. There was a (presumably suspicious) death within the first three lines, but the rest (so far) has been filled with padded out meaningless twaddle relating to a hippy comunune - seemingly without a shred of irony. I was so frustrated that I had to tear myself away to see what other reviewers had written. Had they read the same book ? I'm a great fan of the TV series, so I'm determined to persevere, but with other series it's usually the TV version that's disappointing, e.g. Agatha Raisin, Rebus and DCI Banks. Unfortunately I bought two of these - so perhaps double misery.I've now finished the book, and have decided to amend my review, as things picked up a little after 150 pages. Although I feel that the author has spent far too much time setting the scene. I enjoyed the banter within the Barnaby family and the relationship between Barnaby and Troy. I can now see how and why the TV adaptations concentrate on these elements.My overall rating for the first half of the book was one star, and I now feel that the second half warrants three stars. So I will amend my overall rating to two stars. But having enjoyed the TV series immensely I am pretty disappointed with this book.