Joyce looks through a photo album and says the children looked lovely in their huge bonnets. Cully tells Joyce the photos are of children in the workhouse. Many of them never reached adulthood. Another photo shows people celebrating the end of the First World War. Malham Bridge lost 15 men, Three from one family alone. Joyce tells Cully not to let the stories get to her.

Quentin sees Gwen walking by and asks if she remembers seeing him at the village shop the day of the murders. She says yes, she did. When two bodies are discovered by the side of a fishing stream, Barnaby and Troy have yet more murders to solve. Isobel Hewitt had A Talent for Life that some can only hope for. She loves to drive her red Jaguar at top speed and generally enjoyed the finer things in life. Although loved by many, there were those who were not quite so charmed by her. Margaret Seagrove was convinced that she was the member of the local fishing club using weighted lures in the local stream. Her nephew and his wife, with whom she resided, saw her as a burden now that she had spent most of her accumulated capital. The second victim is the local doctor, Duncan Goff, a well-known philanderer who had affairs with many of the local ladies. The police must first determine if both were intended victims, or if one was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Didn't mind the character building and establishing the characters and such for the first twenty minutes, and it was quite interesting stuff and added a good deal to the characters, but at the same time it took a little too long to set up and get to the meat of the story. Right for the Wrong Reasons: Troy correctly guesses who the murderer is several times: he's just never right about the motive.

It would have been nice if the main suspects had a lot more in them. For example: the fishing plot line, which many characters are part of does feel bit mundane for its own good.

At the photography exhibition, Cully and Joyce look at the photos. Barnaby drives up with Quentin in the car. Troy asks, "What's happening, sir?" Barnaby says, "There's been a development. Quentin Roka was our man after all. He's just confessed to the murders. All three. It seems your first hunch was the right one. You see, it suddenly occurred to me that if Gwen Dobson, the local gossip, didn't know about Melrose owning Isobel's house, then it was possible no one else did either. Maybe not even Quentin. It's a long story. Of course, I couldn't have got there without Troy working out the business with the fridge. Good work. You thought it was Quentin from the word go. See the lesson in all this? Always follow your first instincts." Troy says, "I'll get the car, shall I?" Barnaby tells Cully he'll see the exhibition some other time. Barnaby calls, "Hang on, Troy. I'm coming with you." and puts his arm around Troy's shoulders.

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Ruth Scholey comes to the restaurant and finds out her husband has been killed. She tells the detectives that as far as she knew the door was fine. She had an argument with her husband earlier because she wasn't sure about the alibi she had given him. He had told her she was being disloyal. The solution is indeed disappointing with kind of obvious murderer and dull motives, which could have been much more compelling. I would go that far and name it underdeveloped. A Talent For Life" takes place in the Midsomer village of Malham Bridge and the story starts when Isobel Hewitt slaps Margaret Seagrove in the face. Margaret wants to press charges and Barnaby and Troy come along to have a word. Isobel Hewitt brags about her slap against Mrs Seagrove and as she talks with her nephew, Melrose Plunkett and his wife Rebecca, they inform Isobel that they can not carrying on paying off her overdraft. Shortly after, Isobel Hewitt and Duncan Goff are found murdered by the river. The next morning, Rebecca is clearing out the trash at Isobel's house. Leo comes to look at a table at Quentin's antique shop. Quentin asks Leo what he meant yesterday when he said Keith had bullied Ruth into lying for him? Leo says he couldn't accept Keith wasn't involved. Dixie Goff tells her daughter Angela that she wants family only at Duncan's funeral. Angela says, "Mum, don't you think some of Dad's old friends and patients would like to come, pay their respects?" Dixie replies, "I will not have a procession of his old flames filing past the grave. I will not." The detectives ring the doorbell. Barnaby asks, "Mrs Goff, we've learned that Mr Keith Scholey came round here to speak to you on the night before your husband's murder." Dixie says, "What he told me was no surprise. My husband had always had something of a wandering eye and I tolerated it."

Barnaby stops by the mobile library to say hi to Cully. She is working on an exhibition of vintage photographs of the village. Troy drops by, "I didn't know libraries were your thing." Cully says, "I kind of got talked into it. I'm setting up the exhibition in the hall tomorrow. What brings you to Malham Bridge?" Troy says, "Oh, you know. Run of the mill stuff. Interviewing an old-age pensioner for assault." Cully says, "Isobel Hewitt? You won't catch her at home. She just roared through here in her Jaguar. Apparently she likes to practice skid control at the old airfield." Troy sighs, "Is your dad ever wrong?" A Talent for Life" is one of the good solid episodes. At the same time it is just missing the extra missing that could have made it great or even a classic. "A Talent for Life" signalled the first time, and one of not many times, in the history of 'Midsomer Murders' where the identity of the murderer was not that surprising and easily guessable too early (personally suspected them very strongly before the halfway mark). Not necessarily due to suspects being too few, but there could have been more and the motives more imaginative than here. Meanwhile, the script is smart and thought-provoking with some nice humour and colourful characters. Nothing felt inconsequential, everything had a point, everything intrigued and any loose ends were tied together nicely.Barnaby discusses the case with Troy, "What we've got to do first is establish whether they were murdered together and for the same reason, or whether one of them happened upon the murder scene and was killed to protect the identity of the killer. In which case we need to know which of the victims was the real target." Troy asks, "There's no way they could have had a thing going? I know they were getting on but you never know with these wrinklies. Maybe Quentin got jealous. Decided to do them in. He's weird that bloke." Barnaby smirks at Troy.

The following actors and actresses who appeared in this episode have also appeared in the following episodes:

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Cully has returned! She now runs a mobile library of sorts. Glances between her and Troy indicate their attraction is still there. Her absence goes unexplained. It seems her parents bought her a cheap car, which they call Bert. The murder plot itself was interesting, confusing to follow since everyone's a suspect. But watching it a second time when knowing the identity of the killer, makes it much more pleasant to follow what is happening, notice all the red herrings, and enjoy the script as it is. The deaths are not too gruesome and the initial motives were tame by the series' standard as being a sudden crime of passion based on a broken heart. There was a funny bit about how Troy had pegged the killer early on but was talked out of it by Barnaby's doubts. Then Troy came up with a theory that faulted someone else and Barnaby agreed, celebrating Troy's success with Cully and Joyce. However, Barnaby realized Troy's theory was wrong and once again solved it all himself. Troy was embarrassed but Tom recalled Troy's initial gut feeling as correct, and walked off with his arm around the dejected Troy. Keith confronts his wife, Ruth Scholey at their home. Keith says, "I'm going to ask you a question. And I'll know if you lie to me. So think very carefully before you reply." Rebecca rants, "Isobel had no comprehension of economy. As you can see we don't exactly live like lords. It severely stretched us, letting her live in that house, and we've had to scrimp to get by. Isobel, of course, continued to live the high life. I know she's family and you have to be loyal but the truth is, Isobel was a very manipulative woman. Men ran around after her and she did nothing in return." Troy asks, "Which men ran around after her?" Rebecca says, "My husband for one. And Quentin Roka for another. Her antique dealer playmate. God knows what was going on there." Melrose says, "Quentin runs the antique shop near Isobel's. He often helps her out..." Rebecca interrupts, "Wheedling his way into her confidence. With the finances." Melrose says, "Quentin paid the odd bill for her at the Post Office. I am the person who will benefit financially from Isobel's death in that I now have possession of my assets." The detectives leave the Plunketts. Troy says, "The Plunketts have the strongest motive. The house, the land, it's going to be worth a million or two. In the hands of a builder..." Barnaby says, "But if they'd planned it, they'd have known they'd be top of the list. I'm more interested in the windfall. The 20,000 coming just the day before the murder seems a bit more than a coincidence, doesn't it?"