Long-suppressed family secrets, stolen ancient artifacts, and a thirty year old death at a Celtic burial site result in a series of murders in present day Midsomer.
When Midsomer hosts its 12th Annual Literary Festival, an author is found with his neck broken. More writers will die before the winner of the competition is announced.
DCI Tom Barnaby and DS Dan Scott investigate the shotgun murder of Jamie Cruikshank, a barman at the Maid in Splendour, a pub in the village of Midsomer Worthy.
When the curate of the local church in Midsomer Parva is burned alive in the effigy of the straw woman, DCI Tom Barnaby and DS Dan Scott find themselves investigating what must be a murder.