There's a reason "cosy crime" has become its own travel-worthy genre, nothing pairs better with a dark little mystery and sleepy countryside backdrop. This spring's breakout hit, ‘The Sheep Detectives’, leans into that contrast.

The premise alone is enough to get you booking a cottage, a flock of sheep, raised on nightly bedtime readings of murder mysteries by their shepherd George Hardy played by Hugh Jackman.

With a cast stacked like a dinner party you'd never want to leave, Patrick Stewart, Emma Thompson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, the film has turned the fictional village of Denbrook into the year's most talked-about slice of English countryside.

Except Denbrook isn't fictional at all. It's a composite of some genuinely stunning corners of England. Here's where to find them.

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White Pond Farm, Surrey

Consider this the true heart of the film that plays George Hardy's home and the epicentre of the flock's investigation.

White Pond Farm is a genuine working farm with self-catering accommodation, so you can actually sleep where the "crime" unfolded. It's seasoned film royalty too, having already hosted four episodes of ‘Midsomer Murders’ and a ‘Bond production’ before the sheep ever showed up.

Buckinghamshire

If any county was born to play a postcard English village, it's this one. The production shot its rural exteriors across the Chiltern Hills and Ivinghoe, while Hambledon Square stood in for the low-key police scenes.

Beyond the cameras, Buckinghamshire is a proper countryside escape.

Oxfordshire

The film borrows Oxfordshire for its wide-open meadow and farmland shots, and it's easy to see why. 

Oxfordshire's real draw for visitors is its landscape, anchored by the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Blenheim Palace, a worthy day trip whether or not you're chasing film locations.

Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire rounds out the film's world with its village streets and grand estates, an old-money mystery.

It's also home to two genuinely spectacular stately homes- Hatfield House, once home to Elizabeth I, and Knebworth House, both well worth the detour even for travellers who've never seen a single episode.

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You don't need a passport to step into ‘The Sheep Detectives,’ a decent pair of walking boots, a free weekend, and an appetite for the kind of English countryside that makes even murder look peaceful.