The American Who Watched British Mysteries

Is it possible to solve a crime by watching British television mysteries? Taciturn and by-the-book police Detective Marlowe is investigating the strangulation death of Lucy Dixon, found in a park near her house. Early on he meets recent widower John Arthur, who, with his dog Ainsley, found the body early on a Saturday morning. The detective soon discovers John is a massive fan of British mystery series, to the point that he keeps going on tangents about the two Detective Barnabys from Midsomer and quoting French - or is it Belgian? - private investigators. As Marlowe and his team, including steady and driven Detective Morven and the enthusiastic Sergeant Nelson, begin to dig into the case, John keeps showing up. He knew the victim, calls the neighborhood a village, and arrives at the station with a map of the block she lived on. It details everyone who was at the party attended the night before her murder: jovial hosts James and Joanna Haydock, military-esque Neville and nature-centric wife Florence Cassell, flower-store owner Sarah Howard and wife Joyce, and City Council Member Suri and husband Steven Cane.