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.
Midsomer comes closer and closer to its boiling point when a priest is burned to death inside the effigy of a straw woman and more people burst into flames spontaneously as though by witchcraft.
During a regatta, the body of Rowing Club chairman Guy Sweetman is found bludgeoned and drowned. Bachelor Sweetman was prolifically promiscuous and jealousy would seem to be the motive.