Midsomer Murders

When Martin Wroath is found dead in his home in Midsomer Worthy, Barnaby is unconvinced that he committed suicide with his own shotgun in an unnecessarily complex fashion. When a second murder occurs on an assault course at a local cottage hospital, in which Wroath was a patient, the detective suspects a link between the two murders, and soon finds a wealth of hatred, jealously and lies, before discovering that rope in the village is mysteriously disappearing.

Joyce is taking part in an open-air art class, being held on the village green of Midsomer Florey, when she discovers the body of an elderly fellow student, Ruth Fairfax, concealed beneath some undergrowth shortly after a session. Just as Barnaby begins to learn that Ruth was not all she seemed to be, officers of the NIS pull him off the case. While Troy is allowed to assist them, Barnaby is left handling a local operation into a spate of thefts, yet he decides to continue his investigations in secret. In doing so, he soon turns up armed robbery, unaccounted stolen money, former criminals, and secret liaisons, before discovering that the NIS investigation is not being as thorough as it should be.

At his family home in Upper Warden, arrogant actor Larry Smith is killed, when a summer house he walks in to as part of a promotion for the sequel to his hit film, The House of Satan, is suddenly destroyed in an explosion. His family quickly fling accusations for his murder directly at the residents of rival village, Lower Warden, leading Barnaby and Troy to determine if this is the case, especially when Larry's director, another member of the family, is electrocuted while using an exercise bike. It's not long before secrets, affairs and blackmail begin to surface from within the two villages.

While Troy assists an attractive wildlife liaison officer with an investigation into the illegal sale of protected bird eggs, Barnaby travels to Midsomer Magna to investigate the sudden death of a man, who apparently drowned himself. While there was evidence he was desperately seeking to avoid bankruptcy, and had visited a local millionaire to get back his money from a scheme he had invested in, a post mortem reveals that he had been murdered. The two detectives soon find their investigations crossing over, when a man found to have an illegal collection of bird eggs, is also murdered, prompting concerns that the millionaire's scheme is being used to defraud many, and that someone is willing to kill to keep the scheme going.