When wealthy landowner Gregory Lancaster's body goes missing on the night of his death, it starts a series of mysterious events in the village of Little Malton. DCI Barnaby, DS Nelson, and new forensic pathologist Kam Karimore enter a very macabre world of body-snatching. Nothing is quite what it seems, and when another strange event takes place, the detectives set out to catch the culprit.

New acting Chief Superintendent John Cotton plans a team-building exercise at a Territorial Army centre run by Colonel Matt Parkes. Barnaby and Jones are very reluctant to take part, and when an explosion at the Parkes family haulage yard occurs, the detectives see the investigation as an opportunity to avoid the team building event. It is not long after that a body is discovered in a trunk that resurfaces from the nearby lake. The victim is identified as Alec Grainger, who had been arguing with Colonel Parkes' son Jamie. When Jamie is also found murdered, the detectives are faced with an abundance of suspects and motives, as Jamie seemed to have been universally hated. Annie Woodrow is being tried for the murder of her friend Frances Trevelyan. The prosecution alleges that her motive was her love for Frances' husband John. As Annie's trial begins, DCI Barnaby becomes increasingly doubtful of the damning evidence he provided to build the case against her. A chance remark by Frances's youngest daughter and a meeting with an old friend, a clinical psychologist, causes him to re-evaluate the case. With DC Jones awaiting news of his promotion to Detective Sergeant, they find themselves reinvestigating and uncover new evidence that puts the case in a very different light.Ballroom dancer Rosa Corrigan is found murdered in her home on the night after the start of the annual ‘Paramount Dance Extravaganza’. Her brother Duncan is also found murdered. Barnaby and Winter must investigate rival dancers and their jealous partners, while also having to contend with corporate sponsors and Barnaby's estranged father Ned. Apley Court, in the village of Granville Norton, is home to historic beehives that produce a well top-of-the-range ‘Apley Gold’ honey. Master beekeeper Ambrose Deddington attributes his survival from a life-threatening cancer to a combination of Apley Gold and bee venom. When he is injured trying to prevent the theft of his beloved bees, Barnaby and Winter investigate. Later the local doctor, Serena Lowe, is found murdered, and stung to death. Barnaby and Winter discover that a previous event is the key to the case.

An old pagan festival is revived in Midsomer Parva, with the burning effigy of a straw woman as its centrepiece. To the horror of the onlookers, the local curate, Alex Deakin, is found trapped within the effigy and burns to death. As the police investigate, a series of further deaths from apparent spontaneous human combustion follow. Barnaby and Scott soon suspect that someone is using the illusion of witchcraft to hide their true motives. A new sculpture park opens in the village of Angel's Rise. On its opening night, Brandon Monkford is found murdered beside one of the centrepiece sculptures. It transpires that after Brandon’s wife Alexandra had started a relationship with Daniel Fargo, Brandon had cut Alexandra and their two children from his will, leaving the sculpture park instead to Tony Pitt. There is fury in the village when Tony reveals all of his plans for the sculpture park. Tony is the next murder victim and is discovered near the sculpture park. Further mystery ensues when it emerges that Lance Orden, the famous artist believed to have created the sculptures, had plagiarised his ideas. The peace of Ferne Basset is shattered when the body of quiet animal lover Agnes Gray ( Denyse Alexander) is found floating in the nearby river. Soon afterwards her cousin, Esslyn Carmichael ( Nicholas Le Prevost), inadvertently cuts his own throat on stage during the final act of an amateur production of Amadeus. It turns out that the safety tape on the prop knife used by Esslyn on stage had been removed, making it lethal. As most of the other cast members of the Causton Amateur Dramatics Society loathed him, there are multiple motives and suspects for his murder. DCI Tom Barnaby needs to establish whether there is a connection behind the two deaths to solve the case. Angela Pleasence and Bernard Hepton also appear.Barnaby and Winter are stranded on a remote island manor due to a storm after Victor Karras, owner of Karras Games, dies falling down the stairs and hit with a falling statue. Victor’s wife, Eleanor, is pregnant and plans to give the child to her sister Alicia. Later, Hugo Welles is also murdered and Barnaby and Winter discover the key to the case.

Georgina admits that what Barnaby says is true. "It all just sort of snow-balled." She killed Raif, her husband as well. "I didn't want to. He noticed me taking the saw out of the tool shed. And when Hugo told him what had happened in the barn it was either him or me." Barnaby and Troy go to interview Sally at Georgina's house. Georgina is hosting a party. She had been planning to have guests over for a Drinks Get-Together at her house. After Raif's death, she decided to have the party in memory of Raif. Barnaby asks about Sally's relationship with Melissa. She tells them it's none of their business. Sally says she may be a drunk driver, but she is not a murderer. Georgina walks in. Troy asks her to leave, but Barnaby tells her to stay. Barnaby presses Sally about not remembering any of the drive home the night she was drink driving. In the village of Monks Barton, two couples seemingly disappear from their cottages. When Barnaby and Jones arrive, they learn about the legendary and mysterious haunted woods. Shortly afterwards, a body is found in a shallow grave, giving Barnaby and Jones an accurate description of one of the "missing" persons. The detectives have to delve much deeper into the woods and beyond, to find the answer. There is a fierce rivalry between traditional and digital photographers in the village of Luxton Deeping. When the photographic society's committee decides not to accept digital images at the annual photographic exhibition, matters take an ugly turn and there is a confrontation. The following day, photographer Lionel Bell is found murdered in woodland, strangled with the cord of his light meter. As the detectives begin to investigate, evidence seems to implicate Barnaby in the murder and he is taken off the case. He is replaced by DI Martin Spellman, a colleague disliked by Tom, who appears more interested in his upcoming wedding than the case. When another photographer is murdered, Barnaby continues his investigation unofficially to discover who is framing him and bring the guilty party to justice.

See also

Tensions run high in the village of Solomon Gorge when a fishing competition, and an extreme obstacle course, are both scheduled for same weekend. The excitement for these two events soon turns to fear when the electrocuted body of Lex Bedford is found within the water obstacle. Two further murders, of Ned Skye and Cornelius Tetbury, soon follow. But it is only later when Barnaby and Winter learn of the death of Lola Silvermane ten years previously, who had been believed to be travelling the world after she left the village, that they uncover the key to the case. A 90-year-old feud between the male and female inhabitants of Broughton comes to a head with a Skimmington Ride event. When elderly Ms. Danvers is poisoned shortly before the event takes place, Barnaby and Jones must investigate whether her murder was related to the feud or another unknown cause. When the Rev. Anthony Gant is shot and killed whilst taking part in the traditional ride, and another murder follows, it seems likely that there are deeper secrets to uncover. Lots of clues come together in the last 15-20 minutes, which means that something could be left unnoticed. Also feel the writer himself piled too much info in these minutes so he forgot about some untied endings. After attending a retirement party for ex police officers, Elaine Bennet dies crashing her car. Fleur informs Barnaby that someone has tampered with Elaine’s car and the night before, she had an argument with Giles Franklyn in the car park. Challis Court is a tight-knit community for the retired police officers and one of the resident’s houses is broken into, where much of the evidence is stolen and destroyed. Damian Bennet is also found murdered and a well kept lie may help Barnaby and Winter to uncover the culprit.