We’re in the village hall at Little Heath, a “well-to-do, middle-class town” that’s still excited about that time it was visited by Camilla Parker Bowles. The mayor, Bernadette, has called an urgent meeting: the doctor, the vicar, the teacher and many more have all showed up on cue. But the mayor brings devastating news of a crime that must be solved. Who is the killer in their midst? And how will it impact Little Heath’s chances in the Town Of The Year Award?

The setting is a self-aware homage to Midsomer Murders or Miss Marple but, much though I wanted to love it, Human Nature didn’t quite work for me. At times it’s aiming to be a heightened comedy, but the central crime – the bludgeoning of a teenager – is neither flippant parody nor darkly humorous: it’s just grim. Outbreaks of over-acting are intentional but inconsistent, leaving a few of the characters feeling like they’ve stepped in from a different play.

And while the village-hall gathering resembles the denouement of a whodunit, the mystery is a little unsatisfying, too. The solution doesn’t come completely out of the blue, but nor does it leave you feeling that you ought to have noticed the clues which were there all along. Part of the problem might be that there are too many suspects for a Fringe-length play; with each taking their turn to have a secret in their past revealed, there isn’t much time for investigation of the crime itself. We’re two-thirds of the way through before we even really get to know the victim.

There is a moral to the story – something relating to the “human nature” of the show’s title – and the key plot twist does come as a genuine surprise. The slightly gawky, over-eager Bernadette is nicely-observed and enjoyable, while the sassy Maggie offers a welcome counterpoint to the traditional village vibe. The script contains a smattering of rib-tickling lines and there are some funny concepts too, such as the teacher who’s also an am-dram musical star.

But not all of those lines are delivered clearly, and the ridiculous elements of the situation could be more consistently sold. And so, despite my best efforts to connect with the wordy script, I found myself drifting away. I’m afraid that’s just human nature.