The detectives investigate a string of savage murders precipitated by a local art auction.

A tour of Plummer's relish factory proves too hot to handle when a man gets crushed by a tower of bottles, then thrown into a sterilizing oven. Upon learning that the deceased worked for a competitor in the industry, Barnaby and Scott discover that the Plummers harbor far more secrets than just the family recipe.

Barnaby and Jones discover that Midsomer County is home to a secret pagan cult after one of its more prominent members is murdered. Suspicion initially falls on the author of a book alleging that the sect's rituals are merely the product of drink and an overactive imagination. But soon it seems that all of the members of the Magic Circle have something to hide.

Master of the moor: As a boy, Stephen Whalby took to his beloved moor to escape trouble at home. Trouble follows him there as an adult, however, when women's bodies begin turning up among the rocks, heather, and bogs. Stephen finds no refuge when D.I. Manciple--a rude outsider, unwelcome in the village of Vangmoor--targets him as the prime suspect. Vanity dies hard: In the town of Salstead, the lives of two friends seem to take different trajectories....