Having persuaded Pascoe to marry the long-suffering Ellie, Dalziel finds himself with the opportunity to whisk himself away on holiday while Pascoe is on honeymoon. But, as ever, events fail to go to plan when Dalziel's car breaks down and he finds himself amidst a river funeral procession. Invited to stay at the deceased's house by his attractive widow, Dalziel believes all his dreams have come true, until her son goes missing, the housekeeper ends up dead in Epping Forest and an insurance investigator with a tip-off about an insurance scam regarding the family's newest business venture ends up drowned in a nearby lake. Suspecting that the housekeeper was selling information to the taxman regarding the family's scams, Dalziel discovers that the deceased's accidental death at the hands of an electric drill – which allowed the family to claim for life insurance – was due to a heart attack.

Featuring Francesca Annis as Bonnie Fielding, Robin Bailey as Hereward Fielding, David Royle as Det Sgt Edgar Wield, Pip Donaghy as Det Sgt Cross, Michael Coles as Papworth, Susannah Wise as Louise Fielding, Daniel Ryan as Bertie Fielding, Glenn Hugill as Charlie Tillotson, William Mannering as Nigel Fielding, Anthony Hunt as Hank Uniff, Carmel Howard as Mavis Uniff, Chrissy Rock as Annie Greave, John Axon as Spinx, Jon Strickland as DCI Baldestone and Susannah Corbett as Ellie Pascoe.

After being kept late by "The Fat Controller", as Ellie so bluntly puts it, Pascoe and his wife finally head out on their romantic weekend break to meet up with some old friends, only to find a house full of dead bodies and his best friend nowhere to be found. Pascoe is thrown into the middle of a complex investigation, which revels in tales of villager's secrets, an unpublished manuscript and a suicide note left as a cover up. Meanwhile, back home, Dalziel is on the trail of a bungling burglar who urinated in a poor old lady's kettle after robbing her most valued collectibles. The murder of an aspiring estate agent, which at first appears to be entirely unconnected, soon provides the missing piece of the puzzle. And if all else couldn't be worse, Pascoe is smug when Ellie manages to identify the bungling burglar before Dalziel, and his promotion to inspector finally comes to fruition, with delight.

Dalziel and Pascoe find themselves on the trail of "The Choker", a serial killer who strangles young girls and then phones the local newspaper with quotes from Shakespeare's Hamlet. His latest victims include 18-year-old bank worker Brenda Sorby, who is found in the Wetherton canal the morning after meeting up with her boyfriend and asking him to marry her. Having been spotted at a nearby funfair shortly before her death, Dalziel decides to pay a visit to the clairvoyant after she reveals to Brenda's mother the last moments of her daughter's life. However, Dalziel receives a shock when he finds the body of the clairvoyant's niece, 18-year-old Pauline Stanhope. The trail leads the detective duo to a nearby gypsy camp, where Dalziel finds several of Brenda's missing personal effects, but his investigation is scuppered when he manages to beat seven bells out of a suspect.

Dalziel and Pascoe investigate when the skeleton of missing miner Billy Farr is found in a mineshaft in the Yorkshire coalfields, four years after his disappearance. At the time, a seven-year-old girl was murdered, and initially, a serial killer who confessed to killing five other girls was suspected. However, she was good friends with Farr, and due to the fact they both went missing on the same day, certain townsfolk believed he was somehow responsible. His son, Colin, fails to cope with the discovery well, and leans on his college lecturer for guidance – who happens to be none other than Ellie. Torn between staying loyal to her husband and supporting her student, Ellie helps Colin to do a runner when a second body is found down the mines – this time that of mining boss Heppelthwaite. Discovering the motive for Billy's killing, Pascoe races to catch the suspect – but Colin manages to find him first.

The funeral of an elderly Italian woman is interrupted by the arrival of her son, thought missing since 1944. Her relatives suspect that his abrupt appearance is only to collect what was left to him in her will, as he is sole beneficiary. But not all of her relatives are convinced that he is who he says he is, and thus believe a fraudster is at work. But before his identity can be verified, he turns up dead, having been shot at the wheel of his car, parked in the police station car park. Dalziel and Pascoe must work out the identity of the killer and who is the rightful beneficiary of the money. Meanwhile, Wield's private life nearly hits the front pages when a friend of his ex-partner threatens to blow the whistle on his sexuality, if he doesn't help him find his father who disappeared many years ago. And the chief constable is not best pleased when the news gets back to him, and asks Dalziel to expose his friend.

Dalziel is happily relaxing in flat after a hard day's work, when across the street, he notices a man pull a gun on his wife in the first floor flat. He rushes to the scene, but arrives to find the woman already dead, and the two men involved protesting that she was trying to kill herself, and they were simply trying to stop her. Convinced its murder, Dalziel decides to use a little bit of trickery to catch all of the suspects. Meanwhile, Wieldy is beaten up by a group of local thugs after following one of Dalziel's prime suspects down to the riverside, and it is discovered that the woman found dead in the flat is not who her husband claims she is. And before he knows it, he is implicated in a further string of murders when a number of bodies are found beneath the police station car park, which his firm have recently been renovating. And to top it all, Dalziel is asked to play God in a local play against the suspect.

A group of animal rights protesters who break into a medical facility find more than they bargain for when one escapes from the clutches of security into the nearby woods, only to find the remains of a dead body. Dalziel's not best pleased when he is forced to give up watching his rugby match to attend the scene. Meanwhile, after his grandmother suddenly dies, Pascoe tries to find out what happened to his grandfather who, during World War one, apparently deserted from a medical hospital to sail to America. He discovers that his grandfather stumbled upon the actions of a military doctor, who was giving his patients lethal injections of poison in order to kill them, and suspects somebody killed him, to silence him before he could reveal the truth. Tracing back the history of the medical hospital through the records, Pascoe suspects the body in the woods may be his grandfather, or someone close to him.

Dalziel and Pascoe investigate the disappearance of a young girl, in similar circumstances to another girl who had disappeared in the same place fifteen years before. The initial suspect at the time of the first investigation was Benny Lightfoot, a local farmhand who himself vanished shortly after the girl's disappearance. And when graffiti in the words of 'Benny's Back' appears close to the site of the recent disappearance, Dalziel suspects that he may be back to strike again. However, all is not as it seems, as the little girl's companion, Tig the dog, leads Wieldy right to her body, buried inside a small cave on Beulah Height. As each and every one of the local's lives come under scrutiny, the discovery of Benny Lightfoot's corpse beneath the remains of a house flooded by a reservoir prove to be the final clue in identifying the killer. Meanwhile, Pascoe has to deal with family grief as his daughter is rushed to hospital with meningitis.

The thirty-year-old murder case of Pamela Westropp is reviewed when the accused, Cissy Kohler, states she was coerced into giving a false confession. Having investigated the original case himself alongside his former boss, Wally, Dalziel is immediately told to stay away from the case, and instead, a high-flying DCC from London, Hiller, is brought in to lead the case. Unhappy with the decision, Dalziel decides to do a little investigating of his own, and manages to obtain papers on the case, which Hiller is looking for. However, he soon realises that Hiller is prepared to stop at nothing when he arrives home to find his house trashed, as if someone was looking for the papers. Meanwhile, as Kohler is released, she is informed that James Westropp, thought dead since 1968, is still alive, and after a little persuasion from an old friend with a grudge, decides to hunt him down to finish him off.

The death of young man, Zachary, who lapsed into a coma at a rave after taking illegal drugs, is investigated. It is initially suspected that he died of an overdose, but when the post mortem report reveals that the drugs contain traces of cyanide and high concentrations of nutmeg, Dalziel realises the boy had been poisoned. And when someone breaks into Zachary's garage looking for a photo, and Zachary's dad's shop is turned upside down, Dalziel suspects that someone has a vengeance against this boy. Club owners Nicholas and Sophie are soon put in the frame when club manager, Snake, is found suffocated in his office, with tabs of ecstasy laid on his eyes, and regular E.T. arrives just in time to spot someone who he suspects to be Sophie committing the murder. Meanwhile, Dalziel is forced to face up to his personal demons when he arrests his ex-wife's son, Boris, for drug dealing at the club.

Pub landlord Frank Moon returns after a serious row with his wife Stella the night before, and decides it's time for action – taking his wife, and everybody else inside the pub hostage at gunpoint. As well as all of his regulars, Dalziel also happens to be in the pub at the time, and is forced to keep quiet in order to prevent his cover being blown. As Moon tries to make a run for it with Stella in tow, he is confronted outside by the local bobby, PC Clarke, whom he has no hesitation in shooting. Having hot-tailed it back to where he started, he faces a series of unfortunate events, including: one of his elderly female hostages fainting, old regular Harry dying of natural causes, negotiations with an old war friend resulting in him being shot, and Pascoe being taken hostage too. As Dalziel hatches a plan to get everyone out alive, little did he bargain for a trigger happy police officer pointing his way.

When a suspected serial killer jumps to his death from the roof of a homeless hostel, the only witness is a homeless girl, who goes by the name of Abbie Hallingsworth – a girl who has been missing for nineteen years. DC Shaz Kendall, on attachment to Wetherton CID, invites Abbie to stay while she tries to find out more about the events leading up to her disappearance. However, her coy tactics of introducing her to her long lost family lands her in a steaming bucket of hot water with Dalziel. As her long lost brother orders a DNA test to prove her identity, DC Kendall is shocked to arrive home to find her on the floor, murdered. As Dalziel and Pascoe narrow down a list of possible suspects, the net tightens around a scam involving long lost relatives of wealthy businessman. And as Wieldy manages to corner the suspect, he decides that it's time for a game of cat and mouse with the detectives.

The death of Georgina Webster, a young business woman who falls from her horse during a fox hunt, turns out to be more than an accident when the leader of the hunt is sent a letter to that effect. Investigating, Dalziel and Pascoe discover someone planted gunpowder in a hedge shortly before her death, causing her horse to be startled and throw her off. As the local SABS group come under investigation, Dalziel discovers that the daughter of the huntsmaster is in fact a saboteur, and may hold more of a grudge than her compadres. But when someone murders huntsman Robert Derringer by feeding him to the hounds, and then tries to blow up huntsmaster James Marsham, Dalziel suspects that whoever the murderer is, he has a grudge against the hunt itself rather than the individual. And when DC Novello finds herself having a one-to-one with the suspect, her undercover guise is threatened.

Dalziel and Pascoe are tasked with investigating four suspicious deaths that occur within hours of each other. The first is the death of a French art dealer, who appeared to have either slipped or was pushed from the side of a motorway bridge. The second is the death of a Russian national whose coffin is found floating in the sea just off the coast of Whitby. The third is the death of a Japanese tourist, who is found stabbed atop a famous beauty spot mentioned in Wuthering Heights. And the fourth is that of a German Stasi, looking for the writings of a German academic whose latest book contains secret information they don't want published. Meanwhile, Dalziel receives a postcard from an old flame, Florrie Stockton, whom he decides to visit in her swanky hotel suite. However, he realises their meeting couldn't come at a better time, when the four dead men all turn out to be her ex-husbands.

When high court judge Jerry Chance is shot dead at point blank range, the immediate suspect is large-scale drugs importer Kenneth Barbour, whom Chance was recently trying for the importation of £15 million pounds worth of street heroin. Barbour swears blind he is not responsible for the killing, so as Dalziel and Pascoe look a little deeper, they discover that Judge Chance was involved in homosexual relationships with young men. And when his latest fling is found dead of a suspected overdose in his flat, they realise that not all of the mystery is quite as it seems. As Mrs. Chance's political connections put her in danger of the same killer, Dalziel discovers an inter-web of blackmail, deceit and lies surrounding Ransom telecoms, with whom Mrs. Chance shares an office, and Mr. Chance's dead lover worked as an analyst. And then a link to Kenneth Barbour's drug money comes to light.

Seventeen-year-old music protégé Alec Jordan is found dead floating in a lake, and the incident brings back bad memories for Dalziel, as during a police pursuit ten years ago, he mowed down and killed Alec's mother. Determined to bring justice to Alec's grieving father, Dalziel pulls out all the stops to try and identify the killer – including an impromptu search of Alec's school, which results in his best friend, Sophie Caine, being arrested for possession of cannabis. No closer to the truth surrounding Alec's death, Dalziel is startled when Alec's father requests that he be taken off the case. Determined to continue with his investigation, he takes an in-depth look at a series of Alec's drawings, and manages to discover the identity of the man he was chasing in the pursuit all those years ago. And a shocking revelation about the death of Alec's mother proves to be the final piece in the complex puzzle.

Dalziel and Pascoe investigate the murder of a young Asian woman, who is shot dead shortly after a heated political debate on the future of a community project for local teenagers. As the pair are forced to interrogate her tight knit community, they receive information from a witness who places one of the opposition's sons down by the river, disposing of a gun shortly after the incident. But when the witness is found dead in similar circumstances, Dalziel suspects that someone is playing him at his own game. Things turn from bad to worse when the initial suspect is lured to a factory owned by the Asian girl's father, shortly before it goes up in flames – taking him with it. As the dirty side of local politics begins to rear its ugly head, Pascoe is tied up with his new relationship with the local pathologist – although his initial fears of an affair prove to be the key turning point of the complex investigation.

Dalziel attends the funeral of Fran Lock, an old friend and associate, with whom he had a close relationship many years ago. However, he is soon distracted by the murder of local solicitor David Brewer, who is found tied to his chair, with his clothes torn and knotted around him. Dalziel opens a letter from Fran implying that Mark is his son – she chose to marry a more reliable man and keep it secret. With Pascoe flying to the States to see his daughter, Dalziel makes Mark acting DI in his absence, much to the delight of Mark's 'father', Ted, who is the local desk sergeant. However, when Fran's name appears in the investigation, Dalziel is forced to give Mark the boot. Meanwhile, Wieldy links Brewer's death with the murder of Paul Sutton, a private detective who was murdered five years ago in similar circumstances. As the pieces start to fit together, Mark confronts the chief suspect in the investigation, only to meet the same fate as Brewer and Sutton.

Dalziel and Pascoe investigate the death of an undercover police officer, George Brierly, who was killed during the miners' strikes of 1984, when his remains are discovered at the bottom of a disused mineshaft. As Dalziel revisits his old stomping ground, re-igniting old feuds and long-lost relationships, he decides it's time to pay a visit to his sister, whom he hasn't seen for seven years. Meanwhile, digging into the files, Pascoe discovers that Dalziel was right at the centre of the initial investigation, and somehow managed to escape all of the backlash by taking extended sick leave. As he pushes his boss to discover the real truth, Dalziel is angered at the fact that Pascoe doesn't trust him, and decides to play it alone. As the investigation continues, a second body is found buried at the roadside, and the true motives for the two murders are the pure subject of one villager's suicide note.

Martin Wilkie, a soldier with the local army regiment, is found dead in a pig shed on the wedding day of one of his closest colleagues. Pascoe is immediately taken off the case, as the death occurs in his home town, and he had known most of the witnesses – and even the prime suspect – Dalziel is forced to play it by the book. Meanwhile, a hospital appointment has Dalziel running scared, so much he can't even admit to Wieldy that there's something wrong. As the murders continue to rack up, including the bride and groom, and a local immigrant who escaped capture from immigration control, Dalziel uses the clues to work out just who is responsible for the deaths of four people. And Pascoe is forced to choose between his childhood crush and his father, when she turns out to be the killer – and his father the next possible victim. And then, things get worse when Dalziel has a heart attack.

73-year-old Mrs. Vannstone is found dead in a seaweed bath at a local spa. With Dalziel on a month's sick leave following his heart attack, it's left to Pascoe to deal with the case. Things look pretty straight forward, until the nurse who found the body supposedly commits suicide. Deciding it is time to return to work, Dalziel books himself a week at the spa in an attempt to find out the real goings on. And when another grisly murder occurs, he realises that certain people claim to be somebody they aren't – and the truth begins to unravel in more than one horrific way for Pascoe, as his latest floozy turns out to the prime suspect. And when all of the events are connected to the death of a man at the spa two years ago, Dalziel is forced to step in and take charge of the situation. Is Pascoe naive enough to let the prime suspect get away just to have a little bit of fun, or will his head rule his heart?

The paralyzed daughter of local farmers Sue and Jamie Blackstone finds she is able to walk again after being taken to a tree known as 'the healer' in Wetherton woods. However, the joy is short lived when an excavation to determine the tree's integrity yields the remains of a young girl who disappeared more than forty years ago from a children's home. As Dalziel and Pascoe track down the manager of the home, a local church priest – Father Leonard Tibbings – they discover a systematic chain of abuse by Tibbings and the church, which involved splitting up siblings, including identical twins, and making youngsters work for no pay on farmland belonging to the church. As Pascoe attempts to locate the whereabouts of another missing girl, Dalziel is tied up when he bumps into his sister in the nearby village, only to discover that she is dying of cancer – and that he has a brother.

Dalziel and Pascoe investigate the death of retired police officer Donald Fitzgerald, who is found bludgeoned to death on a local golf course, in similar circumstances to that of Ted Barnes, a snout who was killed by local rich kid Danny Macer, who was subsequently acquitted of all charges on the same day. Dalziel is determined to prove that his old foe is responsible, but with his deteriorating health, and being knocked down by a hit and run driver, Pascoe is forced to inform the ACC, who takes him off the case and sends him back on sick leave. As a second witness connected with the case is also found dead, and an unsuspecting local is burgled after picking up a vital piece of evidence, Pascoe realises that the trail to leads to junior DC Dean Sheldon, who had been having a secret tryst with Fitzgerald's daughter, Christine, on the night of his death. And then he goes on the rampage with a gun.

Dalziel and Pascoe investigate the murder of American tourist Nancy D'Amato, whose body is found by squaddies out on a training exercise. As her overbearing husband Gus, a homicide detective from Boston, arrives on the scene, Dalziel is forced to try to keep him in the dark whilst discovering who is responsible for Nancy's death. Meanwhile, an old flame of Dalziel's, DS Jenny Etric, is assigned to help out on the case. As Dalziel tries to rekindle old romances, Spike discovers that Jenny has been less than truthful – her ex-husband is Charlie Stubbs who, in fact, turns out to be one of the prime suspects. As the case begins to unravel, Dalziel is also forced to deal with a sergeant who has been accused of bullying members of his regiment – and suspects he may be responsible for the murder of two soldiers. However, a bigger twist arises when the body turns out not to be Nancy's.

Pascoe and Milligan are forced to investigate the suspicious death of a holiday village entertainer after Dalziel is suspended for his conduct during an interview with a kidnapping suspect. Pascoe manages to persuade the ACC to take Dalziel back as the SIO on the case, instead of DCI Derek Hawes, who Pascoe believes is not up to the job. As two bodies are found relating to the first killing, Dalziel realises that an intimate web of a fraudulent agent, perverted manager and a diamond heist worth £2 million are the three key pieces in solving the case. Meanwhile, as he's still stewing over the kidnapping of student Penny Wilson, he manages to persuade the ACC to let him continue with the case on the basis that he manages to achieve a result with 48 hours. As he pieces all of the clues together, Dalziel realises he was looking as the completely wrong suspect, and now suspects a family friend.

On a stormy night out on the Yorkshire moors, Dalziel's car breaks down on the way back from a charity do, leaving him stranded for the evening. As he finds the comfort of a local B&B, his peace is shattered by the discovery of the body of local barmaid Sally, having been murdered and dumped. Meanwhile, category A prisoner Charlie Walker has managed to escape from police custody, and is determined to prove he wasn't responsible for the murder of his wife, Kate, which he was convicted of – although no body has ever been found. As the pieces begin to fit together of the night of Sally's death, Dalziel uncovers a ring of dirty Yorkshire businessmen tied up in the dangerous world of dogfighting, and the seven-year-old frozen body of Kate turns up at the same crime scene. As the final piece of evidence slowly falls into place, Dalziel heads to a showdown between father and son-in-law.

The autopsy of a Russian national who is found dead face down in a lake reveals that someone tried to murder him two years previously – with an AK-47 bullet which became lodged in his spine. Meanwhile, the owner of local factory firm Matty's Shoes is found bludgeoned to death in his office. Dalziel initially suspects Stevie Earle, a man who suffered severe acid burns during an accident at the factory four years ago, for which he never received any compensation. And then there's the man's youngest son, who appears to have disappeared from the face of the planet, even relinquishing control of his nightclub after racking up a massive debt. As the list of suspects continues to grow, the man's estranged wife makes a confession, saying she was responsible for his murder – but which one of her sons is she protecting? The involvement of a Russian businesswoman only complicates matters.

When body parts and medical waste are found in Wetherton lake, Dalziel and DC Lateef investigate the disappearance of missing nurse Leanne Proctor, last seen three days ago by her flat mates. Meanwhile, Pascoe is seriously injured whilst pursuing a suspect through an underground maze of tunnels, leaving Dalziel wondering if he will make it through. As the prime suspect for Leanne's murder looks certain to have attacked another nurse, Dalziel wastes no time in setting up a sting by trying to catch him in the act – using staff nurse, and Pascoe's latest conquest, Shannon, as bait. Convinced they have caught their prime suspect, Dalziel and Lateef are distraught to discover CCTV footage, which places him in Oldham at the time of the killing. And when Shannon discovers that a withdrawn drug is still being prescribed to some epileptic patients, the real culprit is revealed.

When animal activist Robin Challenor is found savaged to death inside the tiger cage at Latimer's Private Zoo, Dalziel suspects someone is responsible for murder, when forensics found at the scene don't match the injuries on Challenor's body. The case holds many memories for Dalziel, as Simon "Tiger" Harper, the lover of the zoo's owner, Guy Latimer, disappeared more than twenty-five years previously after being accused of murdering another local man at a dinner party. As old grievances again rear their ugly head, the death of assistant vet Maria Chan also reveals a sinister business of illegal organ transplants taking place at night, using innocent Chinese immigrants as donors in return for papers which grant them access to stay in the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, Pascoe is forced to come to terms with what he wants from life when ex-wife Ellie and daughter Rosie unexpectedly arrive.

An archaeological dig on the proposed site of a motorway bypass reveals the remains of a six-month-old body buried beneath the surface. While Dalziel sets his eyes firmly on the forensic pathologist investigating the case, Pascoe decides to do a little digging, and uncovers an entangled web involving a crooked councillor, bent surveyor and a highly dangerous team of workmen, who after a spat in the local pub, go crazy and decide to completely destroy the dig site, setting fire to archaeological equipment, attacking the volunteers and using a JCB to crush their vehicle into a pulp. But surveying the carnage the next morning, the body of one of the workmen, Tarzan, is found in his caravan bludgeoned to death. And DNA puts recently released convicted murder Clive Jacobs right at the scene, although he insists he is innocent. Meanwhile, Lateef makes a breakthrough on the unidentified body.

When student Lisa Johnstone is kidnapped in broad daylight, PC Jackson finds herself at the mercy of two local thugs after trying to intervene, ending with herself being kidnapped too. Meanwhile, music teacher Visha Iqbal is found stabbed in a ditch and a letter is sent to his wife explaining the details of his affair with none other than Lisa Johnstone. As Dalziel and Pascoe run through an everlasting list of suspects, an art dealer whom Pascoe assisted after saving her from a hit and run is found murdered at the bottom of a ravine, with her car having been run off the road. And when a third body, that of arts centre manager Emma Collins is pulled from a nearby river, Dalziel quickly deduces that all three killings and Lisa's kidnapping are all related to the local arts centre. As a scam involving forged 17th century old master drawings comes to light, Dalziel races against time to save Jackson.

Retired entrepreneur Pal McLean is found dead in his study, with his face having been shot to a pulp by a shotgun. With the door having been locked from the inside, and all signs pointing to a suicide, Dalziel believes it's an open and shut case. But McLean's son, Rob, is determined to lay the blame on someone's shoulders, and sets out to find the evidence to convict someone for murder. But then he is found dead in exactly identical circumstances. When the post mortem reveals that he was suffering from an inoperable brain tumour, Dalziel again deduces he took his own life. Photos of McLean's son-in-law Jason playing away with a prostitute soon prove to be the key element in the case, until the private detective who took them is found dead at the bottom of a stairwell, with his head caved in. As Pascoe searches for a motive for murder, Dalziel woos over his one true love, Kay McLean.

Dalziel and Pascoe are invited over to Amsterdam for a police conference from Dutch Superintendent De Kuiper, on the morals of people trafficking and prostitution. Dalziel, bored with De Kuiper's mumbo jumbo, decides to pass up on a complimentary after party dinner, and instead decided to head to a local club for a drink. There, he meets a British singer from Yorkshire – Tracy Baxter – and the pair go to see the sights of Amsterdam before going back to her flat for coffee. When Dalziel wakes up the next morning, she is dead beside him in bed, having been slashed across the throat fourteen times. As he quickly becomes Amsterdam's most wanted criminal, Dalziel becomes determined to prove that he is not a killer. But the situation gets worse as the killer strikes again, killing a second girl, and Dalziel becomes witness to the shooting of one of Holland's most notorious diamond smugglers.

Housewife Susan Goodman is poisoned to death whilst in the course of doing her weekly shopping. Initially suspected as a terrorist attack, Dalziel and Pascoe soon discover that for some bizarre reason, someone had motive to kill this innocent woman. And events take an even more extraordinary turn when a large sum of money, which her husband Paul lost in a pension scam setup by the Albion bank is left on his doorstep by an unknown caller. Shortly after, a package arrives on the doorstep of another local housewife, and minutes later, she too is dead. Linking the events to the time that Paul and Susan spent at holiday resort Arcadia, and its owner, Brian Fairmile, Dalziel decides to discover why both women withdrew £20,000 from their bank accounts shortly before their stay, and why the money appears to have vanished. And then, to make matters worse, a third woman is murdered.

Security guard Dave Compton is murdered in a high-stakes, high reward transit depot robbery, in which the robbers get away with £600,000 pounds. Dalziel and Pascoe are a little shaken by the death, having known Dave from his time in the force as a detective sergeant. Meanwhile, businessman Steve Pitt is slashed to death with a knife in the kitchen of his restaurant. They are many suspects for the killing, including the ex-boyfriend of his current partner, Claire, who is now three months pregnant with Pitt's child. As it transpires that Pitt and his business partner Imam Abdullah, who has disappeared without trace, were responsible for the robbery, Dalziel has to distinguish whether his disappearance and Pitt's murder are actually acts of revenge, or whether the motive is somewhere closer to home. And before she knows it, the net closes in on seemingly innocent friend Rebecca.

A rescue mission to save several trapped cavers reveals the remains of Lyn Baron, the ex-wife of the current chief constable, who disappeared in 1985 on the way to see her children. The main suspect at the time, Eddy Somers, died months later in a suspected suicide, leaving the case unresolved. Meanwhile, Lyn's daughter, Narissa, is stalked by her nosy neighbour, who is determined to find out everything he can about her. When she goes missing, Dalziel becomes determined to find her before she suffers the same fate. As they track her to a disused flat, they discover that Eddy Somers did not really die in the crash – he is dead in the flat, with a needle full of highly-powered morphine stuck into his arm. As an unsolved hit-and-run from nearly 30 years back reveals itself as the spur for the chain of events, Dalziel has to deal with the grief of DC Lateef's death.

When popular jockey Sammy Hogarth dies from a high dose of warfarin, Dalziel and Pascoe are forced to investigate the dark side of horse racing. In her first case as a DC, Posh is given the task of calling everyone on Sammy's phone – only to uncover the case of missing girl Julie-Anne Henshaw, who disappeared without trace a year ago. Suspecting that the two cases could be linked, Dalziel investigates the course vet Drummond Sachs, suspecting that he may be responsible for a match-fixing scandal, which resulted in big payouts for the syndicate. However, when Sachs is killed in a light aircraft crash carrying a baby on board, Dalziel realises that there is more to the case than first meets the eye. As a horrific tale of rape and destruction unfolds as the motive for Julie-Anne's murder, Dalziel realises that all those dead were connected to that horrific night.

Innocent housewife Jean Hamilton is blasted to death with a shotgun in her bedroom on Halloween, her husband, Guy is quickly identified as the prime suspect. However, it is not the first time she has been killed by her husband – they played out her death on a television magic show just a year before. Suspecting that the magician, Lee Knight, may have hypnotised Guy into murdering his wife, Dalziel starts scrutinising every aspect of Knight's work, whilst the search for missing Guy gets underway. Meanwhile, the night after a long ritualistic ceremony at a nearby castle, the remains of Jean's daughter Katherine are discovered, with the entire left side of her body missing. As Dalziel and Pascoe delve deep into the world of witches and witchcraft, Dalziel has a midnight premonition, which leads him right to the location of Guy's body – only to find the entire right side of his body missing.

Researcher Declan Roach is found dead at the local university, having been poisoned with liquid nitrogen in the laboratory clean room. A student of highly respected professor Fran Cunningham, the motive for his death appears to stem from his involvement with Science Saves, an activist group who campaigned for the continued use of animals in clinical scientific experiments. With his parents having also been targeted, Dalziel suspects that the killer is someone who is against the campaign, and is trying to prevent Declan from continuing with it. However, events take a sinister twist when Fran Cunningham is pushed from an eighth floor balcony to her death in the university common room. Getting an old flame of his to analyse Fran's research, Pascoe discovers she is a fraud, and suspects that someone else may have found out what she was up to. Who is responsible?

In their final case, Dalziel and Pascoe are faced with the grief of two families whose sons were murdered by convicted child sex offender Michael Wheeler, only for him to be acquitted and walk free from court. Meanwhile, a cabbie is suspiciously struck down and killed, and his body dumped in a nearby woods. As the investigation into his death gets underway, the body of a young South-African backpacker is pulled from a nearby river, having been killed in similar circumstances. Realising they have a serial killer on their hands, Dalziel decides an appearance on a national crime programme may draw the killer out. Meanwhile, Pascoe receives a phone call from the father of one of the two dead boys. Arriving at his garage, Pascoe finds that the man has Wheeler tied up and gagged. As Pascoe begs him to let Wheeler free, the man stabs Wheeler to death, leaving Pascoe to cover up the murder.