At Inkpen Manor Garden, Barnaby and Troy investigate when a young girl is hit over the head with a spade.
Barnaby and his wife Joyce, make an afternoon visit to the Inkpen Manor Garden in Midsomer Deverell. This village garden has been the talk of the village ever since the owner, Elspeth Inkpen-Thomas, decided that with the popularity of the garden, they need to have a tea room. What has upset the villagers most, is that they are going to take away the beautiful Memorial Garden to build the tea room.
Inkpen-Thomas family originally owned the manor, but they were forced to sell, but now they have regained the ownership of their ancestral home. The family now consists of Elspeth's mother, Naomi, her first and quite overbearing daughter, Fliss, and her younger daughter, Hilary. Hilary has only just traced Elspeth and her family, she was adopted with an unknown father.
Barnaby catches and then arrests Rodney Widger, for firing shots at the tyres of those cars, that have blocked the lane and the entrance of his small cottage located in front of the manor.
The Bennett family is particularly incensed and lead the opposition, as they had previously owned the manor for a few years, and originally founded the Memorial Garden.
Later an open village meeting is held in the village hall, to debate whether or not the tea room should go ahead. First to speak in Jane Bennett, whose father Gerald created the Memorial Garden. During the meeting there is an murderous attack on one of the Inkpen-Thomas. Fliss is beaten to death with a spade in the Memorial Garden, with her skull smashed in, and her body is found the next day by Susan Millard, one of the persons responsible for the village meeting. Barnaby and Troy move their investigations slightly towards Daniel Bolt, a gardener, both involved with Elspeth and Fliss.
That evening, another Inkpen-Thomas family member is force fed pasta, poisoned with aconitine (aconite) as obtained from the plant Aconitum Napellus (Monkshood), which is one of the most toxic plants known.
Troy also realizes a possible connection to an unsolved "cold case" missing person case from that village, upon learning that Mrs Bennett disappeared mysteriously some years before.
Barnaby is determined to discover the dark secrets of the Inkpen-Thomas's family history.
Barnaby investigates these deaths, and finds older and more deep-seated ancient motives for these murders.
Barnaby and his wife Joyce, make an afternoon visit to the Inkpen Manor Garden in Midsomer Deverell. This village garden has been the talk of the village ever since the owner, Elspeth Inkpen-Thomas, decided that with the popularity of the garden, they need to have a tea room. What has upset the villagers most, is that they are going to take away the beautiful Memorial Garden to build the tea room.
Inkpen-Thomas family originally owned the manor, but they were forced to sell, but now they have regained the ownership of their ancestral home. The family now consists of Elspeth's mother, Naomi, her first and quite overbearing daughter, Fliss, and her younger daughter, Hilary. Hilary has only just traced Elspeth and her family, she was adopted with an unknown father.
Barnaby catches and then arrests Rodney Widger, for firing shots at the tyres of those cars, that have blocked the lane and the entrance of his small cottage located in front of the manor.
The Bennett family is particularly incensed and lead the opposition, as they had previously owned the manor for a few years, and originally founded the Memorial Garden.
Later an open village meeting is held in the village hall, to debate whether or not the tea room should go ahead. First to speak in Jane Bennett, whose father Gerald created the Memorial Garden. During the meeting there is an murderous attack on one of the Inkpen-Thomas. Fliss is beaten to death with a spade in the Memorial Garden, with her skull smashed in, and her body is found the next day by Susan Millard, one of the persons responsible for the village meeting. Barnaby and Troy move their investigations slightly towards Daniel Bolt, a gardener, both involved with Elspeth and Fliss.
That evening, another Inkpen-Thomas family member is force fed pasta, poisoned with aconitine (aconite) as obtained from the plant Aconitum Napellus (Monkshood), which is one of the most toxic plants known.
Troy also realizes a possible connection to an unsolved "cold case" missing person case from that village, upon learning that Mrs Bennett disappeared mysteriously some years before.
Barnaby is determined to discover the dark secrets of the Inkpen-Thomas's family history.
Barnaby investigates these deaths, and finds older and more deep-seated ancient motives for these murders.