Melissa Townsend is a character appearing in the episode Tainted Fruit of the ITV crime drama Midsomer Murders.
While Melissa is sunbathing by the pool, apparently asleep, she is stabbed with a syringe containing Pentobarbitone directly into her liver. Desperately, she tries to attract the attention of her father, but she collapses over the chair and dies. Her body is eventually found by Adam Keyne, Raif Canning and Liz Keyne who are playing tennis nearby.
The murderer is later revealed to be Georgina Canning, who murdered Melissa because the latter was blackmailing her (along with Adam) about her secret (Framing Sally Rickworth for drunk driving).