Handlung

Barnaby's wife finds a body on the Midsomer Florey village green while taking part in a watercolor painting class.

Joyce Barnaby discovers one of her fellow outdoor art class students, Ruth Fairfax murdered and husband Tom, assisted by DS Troy, has yet another case to solve. Fairfax presented herself as an elderly resident and she always insisted on sitting in exactly the same spot in the village green. Imagine the investigators surprise when the autopsy actually reveals her to be a thirty-something woman who disguised herself with wigs and make-up. The case take a peculiar twist when Barnaby is ordered off the case and replaced by a senior officer from the National Intelligence Team. This is especially so when the senior investigating officer is never present and the case is seemingly left in the hands of a DS and a DC who appear less than competent.—garykmcd

Barnaby's wife Joyce joins the local watercolor society for an open-air art class on the village green in Midsomer Florey and stumbles across the corpse of elderly fellow student Ruth Fairfax, in the undergrowth. Autopsy and a home search reveal it's actually a cross-dresser half that age, but corpse and room content quickly vanish without a trace. Barnaby is taken off the case by the NIS, it is left to official liaison Troy -a proud temporary promotion- to 'apprehensively' let Barnaby in on what's going on with the investigation, and picks her experienced brain as the NIS agents DS James Noland and DC Simon Backley seem to mess around clumsily while their boss is never around. After looking into some colorful painting class participants, Barnaby and Troy soon uncover a planned armed robbery, unaccounted loot from a previous one, former criminals and secret liaisons before setting a trap to bring surprising culprits to justice.—KGF Vissers