The BEST episodes of The Brokenwood Mysteries
Every episode of The Brokenwood Mysteries ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The Brokenwood Mysteries!
The Brokenwood Mysteries comprises four two-hour murder mystery stories set in a seemingly quiet country town where the town's newest resident, Detective Inspector Mike Shepherd, finds that murder lurks in even the most homely location.
#1 - Dead Men Don't Shoot Ducks
Season 6 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/24/2019
The members of the Brokenwood Duck Stalking Association are set to shoot on the first day of the new season. Fingers are ready on the trigger as the eight hunters wait patiently for ducks to fly. But then the misty morning presents an unusual sight as a lone wildlife protester sails into the duck shooting cove. Ducks fly, shots are fired but only the protester, Leslie Garrett, falls down dead. With nobody prepared to take the blame Mike and the team are led to believe Leslie was shot by a mysterious ninth hunter seen briefly through the mist. Unable to determine who it was, Mike is forced to think more laterally than usual. Was Leslie's death just a case of careless use of a firearm or were the ducks never the target in the first place?
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#2 - Dog Day Morning
Season 7 - Episode 3 - Aired 6/27/2021
When four masked men attempt to rob the Brokenwood Savings Bank, it's up to Mike and the team to determine which one of them pulled the trigger and killed the bank manager.
#3 - A Real Page Turner
Season 6 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/17/2019
World-renowned crime-writing author Jack Rudd visits Brokenwood to give a reading at the local book club from his latest novel ‘Knife in the Back'. He visits — but never leaves, falling victim to a method of murder portrayed in his own book.
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#4 - Dead and Buried
Season 6 - Episode 4 - Aired 12/1/2019
A suspicious suicide in Brokenwood Women's Prison leads Mike and the team to uncover a complex murder. And for Mike this one is personal — he knew the victim Corina Doyle from his days prior to Brokenwood. As Mike and the team investigate they're brought into contact with several familiar female convicts from the past: Trudy Neilson, Brenda White and Rayleen Hogg. They're all doing their time and all up to no good. And with Corina's passing new information surfaces about an old crime. A secret from her past that will answer a nagging question that Mike has carried for 8 years. However, for that secret to come out, Corina had to entrust it with someone and that someone wants Mike to do a deal.
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#5 - Good as Gold
Season 8 - Episode 5 - Aired 9/4/2022
A 160-year-old family feud over gold becomes the main motive for murder when a modern-day cowgirl is gunned down in cold blood.
#6 - Over Her Dead Body
Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/6/2016
Brokenwood is in mourning as beloved local poet Declan O’Grady is being farewelled at St Judas Church after being struck down by cancer. But things go from bad to worse when his coffin accidentally falls from the hearse revealing that the corpse inside is not Declan but a young woman identifiable only by a notable scarlet tattoo.
#7 - The Scarecrow
Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/12/2017
Philip Henderson stands next to an impressive scarecrow amidst a field of damaged vegetation. His whole crop has failed. The scarecrow may have kept the birds away but this catastrophe is something bigger. Angered and distraught, he confronts his neighbour, the cantankerous Doug Randall, and accuses him of spray drift. Doug is having none of it and an ugly altercation ensues. The following day Philip is discovered dead in his field – the victim of an obscure poison. Suspicion falls on Doug and his new wife, the strident and doggedly loyal Trudy Neilson, whom it was well known had ongoing tensions with Philip over an unpaid bar tab at her pub, The Toad and Lion. But as Mike and the team dig further into the mystery, more suspects come into play. Philip’s other neighbour is the cagey Tamati Taylor, who is less than forthcoming, but as it transpires Philip had a twin brother. Why does he seem remarkably unmoved by the death of his sibling? Following a hunch, Kristin turns attention to the little organic café in town called the Sage Locust and her friend, the owner Dahlia Freyberg. Philip was one of her suppliers – but a supplier of what? And what exactly was in the salad Philip ate when he last visited the Sage Locust? And if the scarecrow was meant to frighten the birds why have all the bees disappeared too?
#9 - The Witches of Brokenwood
Season 7 - Episode 2 - Aired 6/20/2021
The Brokenwood Health Retreat proves rather unhealthy for one unfortunate visitor, leaving the team of detectives with a very tricky case to solve.
#10 - Here's to You, Mrs. Robinson
Season 7 - Episode 6 - Aired 7/18/2021
When Mike mysteriously leaves Brokenwood on other police business, Kristin is left to lead the investigation into a 1970s party where several party-goers wind up dead.
#12 - A Merry Bloody Christmas
Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/20/2016
With December approaching Brokenwood is alive and well with Christmas spirit. That is until a gruesome sight confronts Mike and his team; Santa Claus with his throat slit. Or as Mike insists – ‘not Santa, but a man dressed in a Santa suit’. The man is in fact the much-loved local Mayor, Evan Whitestone, who dresses as Santa every year for the Christmas parade. But with local elections looming, attention turns to his four rivals for the mayoral chains. Each of them has an axe to grind with Evan or, in this case - a cut throat razor.
#14 - Exposed to the Light
Season 7 - Episode 5 - Aired 7/11/2021
A fundraising evening at the historic Brokenwood Empire Cinema turns deadly when a fire breaks out, and when the smoke clears, a local businessman is found strangled.
#15 - As If Nothing Had Happened
Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/19/2017
Sunset Manor is a rest home in Brokenwood for the aged and bewildered. The new resident is Edward Alderston. Having recently lost his wife, his family has decided Sunset Manor is the best place for him, especially now that the Alzheimer’s is taking hold. Mrs Marlowe is a regular visitor, offering sing-alongs at the piano for the residents. But Edward is hoping for more of an ally than that. He’s planning an escape. In fact he’s been practicing. The only problem is he can’t remember the plan. But when a man is found with a Samurai sword through his back floating in his swimming pool in the neighbouring street, Edward’s exact whereabouts becomes of real importance. The man was Mitch Waterson, an ex-finance company high-flyer, responsible for the loss of many millions to many people – in particular, he is the one responsible for many elderly losing their life savings. Mitch was responsible but never held accountable. It would seem now that the accountability has been sought. Revenge has been exacted. So when Mike, Kristin and Breen begin searching for motive they need look no further than Sunset Manor. Many of the residents were victims to Mitch Waterson’s Ponzi schemes and are thrilled to know he’s met a grisly end. However, the problem is not only who might have had the gumption and opportunity to do it but– can they remember doing it?
#16 - Bride Not To Be
Season 5 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/4/2018
The Cream Boat is a charming vessel that chugs its way up the scenic Brokenwood waterways. It carries sightseers and Christmas parties and often Hen Parties. Professional tennis player, Ophelia (Fee) Marley, is one such lucky Hen. Her Bridesmaids have organized a big day migrating from the township via the Cream Boat to the Tidal View Lodge where they overnight. The following morning the Cream Boat returns to pick up the girls, but as the captain is about to dock a macabre and ethereal sight greets him. Fee is floating semi-submerged downstream in her wedding dress and veil. At first it may seem a tragic drowning; a result perhaps of too much revelry. But Gina reveals she was in fact dead before she entered the river. Where was Fee’s fiancé the night of the murder? And why is Best Man Darryn so reluctant to co-operate? Is he covering for his mate or is it something else entirely? Darryn’s reticence is partially explained by the fact that he is deaf. Kristin’s knowledge of ‘sign’ comes in handy as the team works to solve this mystery.
#19 - Something Nasty at the Market
Season 7 - Episode 4 - Aired 7/4/2021
Mike, Kristin and the team investigate the murder of a Farmer's Market Owner who staggers into the crowd with a garden implement fatally embedded in her back.
#20 - Three Coins in a Fountain
Season 8 - Episode 4 - Aired 8/28/2022
When the world champion of the curious sport of Spoofing is found dead in a fountain, the Brokenwood detectives must determine who was willing to commit murder in order to win at all costs.
#21 - Hunting the Stag
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/19/2014
Four close friends go hunting in the bush on a stag trip. But the groom-to-be never comes back – he was shot through the head. Initially this would seem to be just another tragic hunting accident amidst picturesque New Zealand bush. The only problem is none of the remaining three friends own up to pulling the trigger that fired the lethal bullet - yet all three had discharged their rifles – with no deer to prove it. The question is – who shot Hayden Renner? Was he mistaken for a real stag or was there something more sinister at play?
#22 - Playing the Lie
Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/12/2014
A group of erstwhile members of the Brokenwood Golf Club, committee members no less, have gathered for their regular Wednesday morning round. They are playing their approaches to the first green when a zombie-like figure lurches from the early-morning gloom, coming towards them. It takes the golfers a moment or two (apparently) to realise this is actually Adele Stone, the Club owner - her face red and blistering; gasping desperately for breath. Then she falls from sight, into a greenside bunker. By the time the guys get to her, Ms Stone is very much dead. And so Mike and Kristin are called to investigate what appears to be homicide by poisoning.
#23 - Stone Cold Dead
Season 4 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/5/2017
Charity Highmore-Browne is the owner and curator of Brokenwood's Historic Village. A stickler for all things Victorian, Charity lives in a time warp. Her sudden death by an arrow brings Mike and his team into the realm of New Zealand's colonial past as they deal with a blacksmith, a missionary and the local postmaster. Not to be overlooked is Charity's sister who once represented the country at the Olympics, missing out on a bronze medal in archery. As the investigation brings up questions about Charity's lifestyle and the mysterious disappearance of her husband seven years earlier, the team are faced with the possibility that Brokenwood is dealing with its first serial killer. Things are complicated further when Mike is forced out of the office due to a health scare and Kristin takes charge of the case. But can Mike truly hand over the reins?
#25 - Four Fires and a Funeral
Season 8 - Episode 6 - Aired 9/11/2022
The charred remains of a body are discovered in the burned-out remnants of a rural shed, but no one lived there, and no one was meant to be there at all; this is the third in a run of accidental deaths, all attended by the Brokenwood Fire Brigade.