Midsomer Murders - Season 1

When the Midsomer Worthy Writers Circle choose to invite the famous writer Max Jennings to their next meeting, fellow writer and group chairman Gerald Hadleigh is opposed to the decision. After Jennings' visit, Gerald's body is found at his house by his housekeeper the following morning. Barnaby and Troy discover that Hadleigh was somewhat of an enigma, when a witness observes a mysterious woman enter his house the night before his murder. The police find themselves scrutinising all the writers and unearth many secrets in the process, before Max himself is found dead.

The peace of Ferne Basset is shattered, when the body of quiet animal lover Agnes Gray is bludgeoned to death and found floating in the nearby river. The case is far from easy, when her cousin, Esslyn Carmichael, inadvertently cuts his own throat on stage during the final act of a production of Amadeus. Many of the village and of the Causton Amateur Dramatics' Society loathed him. Barnaby is puzzled how someone could have tampered with the prop knife for the play and tries to find if there is a connection behind both murders.

The villagers of Morton Fendle are up in arms, when they discover the local craft centre, which they had invested in, is in financial uncertainty. As Barnaby tries to stop matters from escalating, he soon learns that its owner Alan Hollingsworth's wife Simone has been kidnapped. Shortly after following Alan to the nearby market town, and witnessing him dropping off a valise, a neighbor of his is murdered when her car is forced off the road and collides with a stationary log lorry. When Alan himself is murdered, the detectives need to track down Simone and the reasons behind the kidnap, before identifying the culprit.

Bill Carter, one of the founders of a New Age commune called the 'Lodge of the Golden Windhorse', dies after falling down the stairs and breaking his neck. Barnaby and Troy arrive to investigate and meet many of the commune's quirky residents. They need to work out whether it was just an unfortunate accident or murder. When the leader of the commune, Ian Craigie, is stabbed to death shortly afterwards with a carving knife, during a spiritual ritual attended by all its members and visitors, the detectives need to find out who could have possibly committed both crimes. A young member who hasn't spoken since arriving at the commune may be a key witness in the case.