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 have to step into the world of spirituality when the body of Tilly Mulroney is found surrounded by ritual symbols on the first night of the Angel’s Rise Psychic Fayre. Simeon Dagley falls under suspicion when it is revealed that one of his Devil Tarot cards was found beside Tilly’s body, but a while later, Simeon is also found murdered, hanging upside down from a tree in the woodland. It transpires that Simeon may have figured out the identity of Tilly’s murderer, by looking at his Tarot cards. DCI Barnaby soon learns the truth about the previous death of Bea Saint-Stephens, and he realises that her passing may be the key to the murder case. Meanwhile, the script is smart, thought-provoking, with a welcome and breath-of-fresh-air return to the quirky humour that "Dark Autumn" just missed. Very little felt inconsequential, almost everything had a point and it was intriguing and maintained attention throughout. The story is as with the best of them absorbing and rich in atmosphere, with plenty of twists and turns and clever and complex plot twists. The characters have an eccentricity absent since "The Electric Vendetta" and very much missed. The characters, as already mentioned, are fantastic and very eccentric. Adrian Rawlins plays one of his best roles perfectly, I really like that rascal Adam Keyne, and the killer is quite an interesting character. In this episode, I feel that Adrian Rawlins, Ellie Haddington, Eleanor David, Claire Price, Miles Richardson and Benjamin Whitrow, leave the best impression from the supporting cast.

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.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. Martin Wroath is found dead in his home in Midsomer Worthy. He had been shot with a shotgun using an elaborately rigged wire leading from his foot to the trigger. First appearances suggest suicide, but the autopsy reveals that he had been drugged. The police conclude he was murdered. The investigations lead to Dr. Jane Moore ( Isla Blair), an old friend of Tom's and a psychologist at a local mental health clinic who knew the victim. More deaths follow when one of Jane's colleagues is found hanging in the clinic grounds and the local marching band leader is strangled. Meanwhile a series of mysterious rope thefts occur around the village, and an attempt is made on Tom's life. This is one of the most classic Midsomer Murders. It has everything that makes the show one of your favorites: eccentricity and fantastic characters, a classic atmosphere (not like in the Graham books, but close), an original plot and extremely unusual murders. Medlar adds humor to the episode. 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.

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. When the archaeologists working on the dig in Midsomer Cicely unearth Cicely herself, this causes celebration. But shortly afterwards, the leader of the dig is murdered and found in one of the excavated trenches. DCI Barnaby and DS Nelson soon uncover many misdeeds in the village, and almost everyone has a skeleton in the closet that they would rather keep hidden. The truth will resurface but not before more murders take place. After a successful day at the races for the racehorse, Bantling Boy, it is not long before one of the horse's owners is found murdered in the horses' stables. The victim, Bruce Hartley, had been in dispute with the other owners of Bantling Boy, having had a heated argument with them over an offer to buy the horse. Things get worse for the other owners when a series of further killings follow, before a darker motive is revealed and the detectives bring the culprit to justice. The crime festival and book fair open in the village of Luxton Deeping. Shortly after, an announcement is made, during a meeting of a newly discovered manuscript by the late crime writer George Summersbee. When the manuscript is stolen and a woman is found dead after spinning a roulette wheel trap, Barnaby and Nelson know they are set to work to uncover many secrets and obsessions within the village. The residents in the village of Elverton-Cum-Latterly are about to start their rehearsals for a charity drag queen extravaganza, when Lois Springfield is found murdered. And after receiving a warning message, Malik Payne is almost run over by a car and it now seems that someone is not very happy about the charity drag queen extravaganza. At the end of the show, Evelyn Hardy is found murdered and the terminally ill Rocco Templeton collapses at the village green. It soon transpires that someone wants to start a new life at a new place. A well kept secret has been held concealed, and someone’s life has been changed forever.John Ransom gets thrown out of the village pub in Midsomer Mere for fighting with his brother-in-law, and a short while later he is found dead on the green. It is discovered that John had been used as a guinea pig for scientific experiments by his brother Max, who suspected he had the ability of 'Second Sight'. Barnaby and Scott soon discover that another family possesses the same talent. They have to delve deeper to unravel many secrets in the village to find the truth.

Joyce joins the local watercolour society for an open-air art class on the village green in Midsomer Florey. Shortly before taking a break, she stumbles across the body of elderly Ruth Fairfax, a fellow artist. It turns out there was more to Ruth than met the eye. Barnaby is taken off the case by the National Intelligence Squad and it is left to Troy to 'apprehensively' keep Barnaby informed on the investigation. Barnaby and Troy soon uncover that the proceeds from an armed robbery are missing. They find out all information about former criminals alongside all the secret liaisons, before they bring all the culprits to justice.

Cast & Crew

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. DS Dan Scott arrives in Midsomer as DS Troy's replacement. He is instantly involved in a case in the village of Midsomer Mallow, when a college secretary is found murdered. Soon after a retired doctor is also murdered during the village's annual garden open day. Barnaby and Scott investigate the connection between the two victims, and the murder of a homeless drunk give them the clue they need. Meanwhile, Cully organizes a reunion with a group of old school friends, with unexpected results. The villagers of Midsomer Barton are celebrating the annual Oak Apple Week when the body of a woman is found in a stream. The return of the festival queen event, after a hiatus of eight years, seems to be a link to a series of murders. Barnaby and Jones investigate and find some familiar faces from the past. 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.

After gathering on Moonstone Ridge to observe a total eclipse of the sun, members of the amateur Midsomer Stanton Astronomical Society start to meet their deaths in bizarre ways. Three amateur astronomers are killed - the first, by a blow to the head with a meteorite, the second with a spear, and the third nearly decapitated using a bronze disc with astronomical markings. The astrological sign Scorpio seems to be a common theme of the killings, but Barnaby begins to doubt whether the case is so straightforward. Farmer Alex Preston's dead body is found in the centre of the ancient Crowcall stone circle days before the spring equinox. Early evidence points to a community of New Dawn Druids, who had been angered over Preston's plans to plough the meadow and make the sacred place inaccessible. But when one of the druids is also murdered, Barnaby realises that more complex motives are involved, and his suspicions turn in a direction that threatens to create a serious rift between him and Jones. Maps that reveal the location of a hidden Anglo Saxon treasure, along with a more modern valuable painting, provide the clues that lead to a very manipulative killer. The villagers of Midsomer Deverell are angered by the Inkpen family's plans to convert the public memorial garden into a tea shop. When Elspeth Inkpen's daughter Fliss is found murdered in the garden, Barnaby and Troy believe that someone may be determined to stop its destruction. Elspeth ( Belinda Lang) moves to the vicarage where she too is murdered. As the investigation continues, the suspect list grows to include the daughter of the architect who designed the garden and a gardener ( Neil Dudgeon) with whom both Elspeth and Fliss had been having an affair. Barnaby and Troy realise that the case will only be solved when the garden gives up a sinister secret.

Cast & Crew

The Milton Estate is the principal landowner for much of Milton Cross, with many people and businesses dependent on Edward Milton for their jobs and income. One of those businesses is the Woodley & Woodley tailor shop. When Sonia Woodley is found murdered in the churchyard two years after the death of her abusive husband Gerald, a set of tailor's shears are identified as the murder weapon. Barnaby and Jones discover that Sonia had passed a letter to the vicar a few days before, but the handwriting is not hers. When the vicar is also murdered shortly afterwards, the police need to uncover who wrote the letter to solve the mystery. The cast fares very well too. Always had a soft spot on Lucy Punch, who has a fun character to play. Elanor David being pretty good as well as a socially active woman. Upon his death, Karl Wainwright, owner of the Easterly Grange Hotel, leaves an estate with a number of beneficiaries, including hotel manager Gregory Chambers, his wife Suzanna ( Samantha Bond), and hotel chef Tristan Goodfellow. One by one, they meet grisly deaths. Gregory is found dismembered in woodland where he had been foraging for mushrooms, Suzanna is killed with a shotgun and Tristan eats a meal of mushrooms that includes the deadly Destroying angel. Kenneth Gooders ( Jonathan Coy), the solicitor handling the estate, is also killed when his large drinks cabinet topples over and crushes him. A cryptic new script for Gregory's former Punch and Judy show may provide Barnaby and Troy with some answers. Kind of agree also that the third murder was not particularly necessary and the motive being a pretty lazy and overused plot device. When the body of Charlie Finleyson is found in woodland in Midsomer Sonning, Barnaby and Jones begin to scrutinize the employees at the offices of Midsomer Life magazine. It is discovered that Mr. Finleyson was married to Christine Sandys, ex-wife of Guy Sandys, the wealthy owner of the magazine. The detectives also become aware of a dispute between Guy and the owner of the Morecroft Hotel, where Christine's brother works, with tensions starting to rise between the locals and visitors from London. Shortly after being questioned, Guy is murdered in his office. Barnaby and Jones find out what led to the murder when Morecroft's alcoholic receptionist is killed in the laundry room and uncover the village's secrets from the past to catch the killer.