When the owner of Midsomer's Easterly Grange hotel dies, he leaves his property to be divided equally between several of the hotel's employees. However, when a series of murders also appear to have also been triggered by his death, Barnaby and Troy are called to investigate.

The disappearance of a horse whisperer in Newton Magna brings Barnaby face to face with old adversary Melvyn Stockard, now reinvented as the village squire. But when a villager's body is pulled out of the well, Barnaby becomes convinced Stockard is somehow involved.