When DCI Barnaby and DS Troy arrive in the sleepy village of Badger's Drift to investigate the sudden death of elderly Miss Emily Simpson, her next door neighbour insists that she had been murdered, after she had seen her return from a walk in the woods, unnerved and shocked by something she had witnessed. When the post mortem confirms her death was no accident, the pair discover that nothing is what it seems to be within the little village as they try to find out what exactly she saw. Their investigation introduces Barnaby and Troy to many eccentric and quirky residents and soon turns up a web of sex, blackmail and lies, and the possibility that the murder could be connected to a shooting accident two years ago, which claimed another woman's life.

After debating on who their next guest speaker should be, the Midsomer Worthy Writers' Circle decide to invite famous writer, Max Jennings, to their next meeting, despite opposition to the choice by Gerald Hadleigh, the group's chairman. When Hadleigh is found dead the day after Jennings visit, brutally bludgeoned and stripped naked, Barnaby and Troy discover that the victim had many mysteries to him, prompting them to delve into his private life and his past. Matters soon become complicated when Jennings disappears and is later found dead, and a witness recalls seeing a mysterious woman in Hadleigh's house the night before his murder.

Whilst investigating the murder of Agnes Gray, a quiet animal-loving woman who was bludgeoned to death and found floating in a river near to the village of Ferne Basset, Barnaby gets more than he bargained for when he attends his wife's performance in the Causton Amateur Dramatics' production of Amadeus. When Agnes's cousin, Esslyn Carmichael, inadvertently cuts his own throat during the final act, it's quickly discovered that the tape on the prop blade he had used was removed without anyone knowing. The detective is left wondering who had wanted to turn Esslyn's final act into a true coup de theatre, as he and Troy try to determine what the motive was behind the two murders.

Local villagers in Morton Fendle are up in arms, demanding answers from Alan Hollingsworth, the owner of a local craft centre they had invested in, after news comes out that it has recently fallen into financial turmoil. As tensions begin rising in the village, Barnaby soon suspects that something has happened to Alan's wife, Simone, when his behaviour suddenly changes. His suspicions are soon confirmed when it transpires that Simone was kidnapped, after one of Alan's neighbours is murdered, shortly after witnessing something they shouldn't have.

Bill Carter, one of the founders of a local New Age commune called the Lodge of the Golden Windhorse, dies suddenly after falling down some stairs and breaking his neck. Although there was uncertainty as to whether it was the result of an accident or murder, Barnaby and Troy find themselves having to determine which it was, when Ian Craigie, the commune's leader, is stabbed to death with a carving knife a few days later, while attending a spiritual seance with the rest of the commune and the parents of one of its members. It's not long before they discover hidden truths about the commune's founding and some of its members.