In each episode, the peacefulness of the Midsomer community is shattered by violent crimes, suspects are placed under suspicion, and it is up to Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby to calmly and diligently eliminate the innocent and ruthlessly pursue the guilty. When another Hogson is stolen, Barnaby decides to become an expert on the Midsomer painter, with the help of art teacher Matilda Simms. The current lead character is John Barnaby , who works for Causton. When it transpires that his neighbour, Jack Wilmot, has disappeared shortly after his death, both Barnaby and Scott begin a search for answers, and soon turn up rumours that Nick had lost money he had stolen from his clients' accounts. Yet when she is there, things become mysterious when from the river bank in the grounds of the manor she sees a woman jump from the bridge and disappear underwater.
It quickly transpires that the victim not only had a secret lover, but had also smuggled a rare, priceless, one-of-a-kind orchid - the Yellow Roth - out of Borneo. Will Jack Purdy's quick temper lead to violence? Meanwhile Samuel Quested , the traditionalist mayor of Midsomer Abbas, seeks to revive the ancient rite known as 'The Stag'. Suddenly, Barnaby is violently ill as the body of missing man Peter Slim is found floating in the cider vat. Barnaby's social life revolves around his wife Joyce and his daughter Cully, who often provide a personal connection with the crimes that he is investigating. But when the director, Nick Cheney, is found dead - his head severed by a prop guillotine - Barnaby must discover who would have wanted the victim dead. Before long, another member turns up dead, and the detectives soon find the club has a hidden history, involving gambling, illegal money lending and assault, prompting the pair to determine if a club member, or one of its staff, is responsible for the deeds.
It isn't long, before murder does occur, and the detectives attempt to fathom what occurred in the drowning, and the present day murders. At the end of series 19 she has taken a job in. Troy, can Barnaby find the murderer once again? Barnaby and Jones discover that the victim was poisoned with a rare toxin extracted from Ecuadorean poison frogs - so the hunt is on for a particularly ruthless and imaginative killer. When a schoolteacher is killed in a hit-and-run, Barnaby suspects Jeffers was the intended target. As other people linked to the dairy meet agonising deaths, long-held secrets start to emerge. Furthermore, they've got to find Miss Sharp and their investigation leads them to linking Simon and Laura with the villagers of Morton Fendle, who met at Elaine Trim's dancing classes. The friend of the brother who has been visiting the manor since childhood and now wants to buy it? It soon becomes clear someone took a pair of tailor scissors to do the deed, but who amongst the villagers could have done so, is unclear, and the investigation is complicated, when the pair learn the local Anglican priest, the parish vicar, had received a letter from Sonia.
As he and Troy investigate the area, including a local tobacco company the victim was associated with, they soon encounter several matters, including a retired detective obsessed with the previous murders, problematic evidence, family troubles, and secret affairs, before another death follows. Barnaby and Jones soon find themselves delving into the occult, magic, and ancients books of power, to determine what happened, and soon sense a mixture of both might be the motive for the murder, when a book shop owner is killed with shattered glass, laced in the same poison. When Agnes' cousin, Esslyn Carmichael, inadvertently cuts his own throat during the final act, it's quickly discovered that the tape on the prop blade he had used was removed without anyone knowing. She is unmarried and is also a professor. For Barnaby and Troy, suspicions are drawn in on Robert's son, who openly resented his father's wife, and who owned the cricket bat that killed her. They soon find that the world of fictional writing is far darker than it appears, when the victim's editor is shortly found dead during the festival's opening ceremony, leading the detectives to uncover lies, fraud and hidden truths, as the pair search for a connection behind the deaths.
Most people dismiss his disappearance completely but when he doesn't turn up, a search is conducted and a severed hand, confirmed to be Gregory's, turns up in the woods. But soon, another murder occurs and this time, the poison spreads further than the intended target. But he and Barnaby soon start digging into an old case involving the death of a couple in a boat explosion. But who is responsible and why? Even though her parents don't believe her, Julie Fielding is adamant she saw the woman's body. During their opening performance, the band's singer, Mimi , falls to the ground dead - electrocuted by a wire that had been run through the microphone stand. It isn't long before Barnaby and Troy, with Nico's assistance, find themselves dealing with mysterious, ghostly events, escaped criminals, and a museum trustee who has more to them than meets the eye. As the detectives become aware of a feud between Guy and the proprietor of the Morecroft Hotel, tensions are also heating up between the locals and visiting Londoners.
In reality, he could not have been given the post because it would have required him to bypass the rank of inspector. When they discover that Barrett was an expert blackmailer, his victims become prime suspects for his death - from a local pub landlord, a cleaner, a prominent member of the police board, to a former marine geologist. Their investigation soon turns up a web of sex, blackmail and lies, and the possibility that the murder could be connected to a shooting accident two years ago, which claimed another woman's life. His family quickly fling accusations for his murder directly at the residents of rival village, Lower Warden, leading Barnaby and Troy to determine if this is the case, especially when Larry's director, another member of the family, is electrocuted while using an exercise bike. Yet when Elspeth Inkpen announces that it is none of the village's business what her family is planning, Barnaby and Troy wonder if someone is determined to stop this happening, when her daughter is soon found murdered in the garden.
Several people soon come forward with multiple wills, which confuse the matter, but when two more people, close friends of Rex, are also murdered, the investigation raises question on the motive, leading Barnaby to wonder if it was down to finances, passion, or something from Rex's past. But the evening after a battle re-enactment in the village, Henry is murdered - and Barnaby must delve into the history of the two families to find the killer, discovering a web of fraud, lies, and hidden truths. As of 17 March 2019, 118 episodes have aired over 20 series. Barnaby lives in a large country cottage with his wife Sarah, daughter Betty, and their dog later Paddy. But as he attempts to de-stress, a woman is found dead in the flotation chamber. Yet their investigation also turns up a wealth of secrets, lies, affairs, blackmail, and a mysterious death that occurred shortly before a break-in, before matters are complicated when another murder occurs during the cricket match. During a Wild West show at the local faire, the witch on the 'Dunk the Witch' stall is well and truly dunked but laughter soon turns to horror when she doesn't get up and the water in the tank starts to turn red.
Which means that the murders in the series are becoming increasingly inventive, love or loath it. When Stella's more famous sister returns after a 40-year family rift, the killings escalate, each reminiscent of a movie plot. Anthony Gant, shot during a major event being held in the village green, in view of many. His apparent attraction to the friend's sister? It seems the club has a rift between the snobbish members, and local villagers, the latter only allowed onto the course for a few hours a week. He suggested a holiday in Ireland.
It turns out the dead man was married to the ex-wife of Guy Sandys, the wealthy owner of the publication. When another death occurs, the detectives learn that there are plenty of dark secrets and fierce hostilities in this apparently idyllic village. Meanwhile Kinsella's trainer Teddy Molloy has his own hidden agenda. But as it's being decided which projects should come into motion to revive Little Auburn's former glory, one of the project leaders mysteriously dies. As he and Troy attempt to find out, they soon encounter a hotbed of corruption and property feuding occurring within the village as the body count rises and the mystery deepens.