Barnaby and Winter become conscious of her relationship with Stephen Ashworth, Naomi Asworth’s husband. Nosy village resident Iris Rainbird ( Elizabeth Spriggs), who spies on her fellow villagers from a high vantage point in her house, may be a key witness, but she and her eccentric son Dennis ( Richard Cant) soon fall victim to the killer themselves.

Nine years after Ferdy Villiers committed suicide at the family home, Draycott Hall, his family gather at the Hall to celebrate Christmas. Master beekeeper Ambrose Deddington attributes his survival from a life-threatening cancer to a combination of Apley Gold and bee venom. The police discover that Gerald had had a strange fixation on both an abandoned hospital and a particular grave in the cemetery.

When a grudge from the past later starts to resurface, an unknown killer soon begins to target the bell-ringers, one by one. A cryptic new script for Gregory's former Punch and Judy show may provide Barnaby and Troy with some answers. Shortly after running away to elope with her boyfriend, Finn Robson, Harriet had been left for dead in local woodland.

An ugly confrontation ensues when some of its members make angry accusations of corruption against those responsible for the design, construction and planning approval for the house. Jane Moore ( Isla Blair), an old friend of Tom's and a psychologist at a local mental health clinic who knew the victim.

The police detectives realise that the key to the case is the death of a young local schoolboy years in the past. The investigation becomes more complex when Ian Craigie ( Michael Feast), the co-founder leader of the commune, is stabbed to death with a carving knife during the spiritual ritual evening.

The body of Charlie Finleyson is found in woods near Sandys's house, and suspicion falls on Sandys, as his wife Cristina had left him for Finleyson some years previously. When Henry is killed—with Duggie's 1916 pistol—and an attempt to bomb the elder Lionel Hicks goes awry, Barnaby and Jones have a case to solve.DS Troy assists a wildlife liaison officer with an investigation into the illegal sale of protected birds' eggs. When another is murdered, they discover that a former member, Ginger Foxton, who disappeared 30 years before and had been presumed dead, could still be alive. 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. The previous evening, he had been on a romantic date with his girlfriend Laura Sharp, who is nowhere to be found. It turns out that the safety tape on the prop knife used by Esslyn on stage had been removed, making it lethal.

Henry, the patriarch of the Hammond family, is particularly riled by his insalubrious neighbours, and has nurtured a long-running feud with the Hickses. Barnaby and Jones attend the Midsomer Abbas spring fair, a celebration of the village’s friendship with Midsomer Herne. He is instantly involved in a case in the village of Midsomer Mallow, when a college secretary is found murdered. He had been staying at Allenby House, a country manor run by former spies, the Frazer family, as a safe house.Shortly before taking a break, she stumbles across the body of elderly Ruth Fairfax, a fellow artist. DCI Barnaby, assisted by new DS Nelson, arrives in the village of Morton Shallows to investigate the death of furniture maker and local philanderer Conor Bridgeman during a ghost-hunting party at the local Manor House.