Murder She Wrote tops BBC body count index
Cabot Cove, the violent seaside town of murderous denizens which Jessica Fletcher had the misfortune to call home, has been named as the murder capital of the world in a BBC Radio 4 survey.
Despite its outward impression of serenity, including an idyllic harbour and picture postcard houses, the 3,560 residents of the fictional town were racked by a period of violence between 1984-96 which saw an average of 5.3 corpses falling out of the closet or being dug up each year.
That equated to an eyebrow raising 1,490 murders per million, putting the quaint town ahead of Honduras where a life is claimed every 74 minutes.
Several other famous crime locales were found to be far less bloodthirsty; notably Midsomer, setting of ITV’s Midsomer Murders, which counts an average of 21 victims a year, giving it an annual murder rate of 32 per million.
The BBC point out that visitors to the sleepy cove were particularly at risk from the natives, despite the commendable efforts of Fletcher to bring her unruly neighbours to justice.
Charlotte McDonald, presenter of More Or Less, said: “Even London, the most murderous place in Britain, has a murder rate that is dwarfed by Cabot Cove and Midsomer county.”