When wealthy landowner Gregory Lancaster’s body goes missing on the night of his death, a sinister web of secrets and lies is exposed in the village of Little Malton. DCI Barnaby, DS Nelson and new Forensic Pathologist Kam Karimore are drawn into a macabre world of body-snatching as they seek to identify the villain.

Mysterious lights are seen in the sky over famous UFO hot-spot Cooper Hill. When a local forest-ranger suffers a strange death the visiting UFO spotters are convinced aliens are responsible. DCI Barnaby and DS Nelson unearth suspicions, betrayals and long-buried secrets in their search for the truth.

Barnaby and DS Ben Jones investigate the death of Simon Bright who is found dead inside an old World War II vintage Humber parked at an abandoned airfield. From all appearances, the death appears to be a suicide, but the pathologist determines that the man suffered a severe blow to the dead and may in fact have been unconscious when he died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Simon Bright's girlfriend, Laura Sharp, is nowhere to be found, but the death of the aging village Lothario and the attempted murder of another of her friends narrows the list of possible murderers somewhat. Barnaby is convinced that one of Laura's ex-lovers is responsible but given her rather active life, the question becomes which one?

Brandon Monkford is found dead on top of a statue created by womanizing artist Lance Auden at the grand opening of Brandon's sculpture park. Suspects abound as his wife Alexandra was having an affair with art critic Daniel Fargo, the park would mean an end to his daughter Rachel's climbing centre and villagers led by Brin Dunne opposed the park on environmental grounds. The person with the most to gain, however, is Brandon's groundsman Tony Pitt, the sole beneficiary in his will, who annoys everybody - including his wife Summer - with his decision to carry on Brandon's vision and who predictably becomes the next victim. When a third corpse is found, like the others attached to a statue in the park, Barnaby must discover who is, literally, practising a dying art.

When Bentham DeQuetteville falls to his death from a roof after seeing a headless horseman, his aristocratic family seem more concerned about their forthcoming Civil War re-enactment than the incident. As Barnaby and Jones try to find out the truth behind the ghostly figure, their investigation uncovers shocking secrets about the DeQuettevilles.

Tom Barnaby joins the Causton Chamber of Commerce trip to Brighton as he is suspicious of dodgy mayor Hicks' plan to buy coastal land on which to buy chalets. Also opposed to the plan is Lady Matilda William,who has had threatening letters, as have the local vicar, oily property developer Hugh Dalgleish and hotelier Jenny Russell. Lady Matilda is descended from Richard of Guillaume,a ruthless contemporary of William the Conqueror,and believes that her son Richard,last of the line and brain-damaged for twenty years,was the victim of ancestral jealousy.In Brighton Dalgleish is murdered with the sword stolen from Guillaume's tomb and Hicks is arrested for fraud. Having learnt how Richard came by his accident Barnaby is convinced that Richard and not the property scam is the cause of yet another victim being claimed by the sword of Guillaume.

A 90 years long feud between two families, the Hicks and the Hammonds, appears to have escalated to murder.

Bullying snob Alistair Kingslake is killed with a golf iron at the Whiteacres golf club. After another member, Miles Tully, tells Barnaby about illegal gambling among players, another member, who has had an 'odd phone call' is also slain. A figure in a blue tracksuit is seen at both murders. In fact there have been unreported assaults on members over the months. Barnaby discovers that the gambling is rife and the social-climbing steward , Mrs. Fountain, and her two warring sons are lending money to the gamblers and assaulting them if they fail to pay. Indeed Mrs. Fountain's scheming has driven the killer to commit the Dogleg Murders.

Following DS Jones’s promotion to Detective Inspector, Barnaby is joined by DS Charlie Nelson who has moved to Midsomer from London. The villagers of Midsomer Mallow are trying to awaken the ghost of little Rosie, the Blacksmith’s daughter and following a murder during the Manor House’s Fright Night, Nelson is thrown in at the deep end. Will Barnaby and Nelson unravel the mysteries that lie behind the ghost stories or will the eccentricities of the villagers hinder their investigation?

The unveiling of a newly-discovered novel by deceased Midsomer crime-writer George Summersbee at the Luxton Deeping Crime Festival is jeopardised when the manuscript is stolen and a woman is fatally electrocuted by a booby-trapped roulette wheel. Can new dad Barnaby untangle a web of jealousy and obsession to find the killer?