An abandoned lorry with five corpses at the ferry terminal and a man on the run bring Wycliffe's silver wedding anniversary celebration, which their children have laid on as a surprise, to an abrupt halt.

A psychiatrist's wife is murdered in a seemingly unprovoked attack. Wycliffe finds that proving a motive can be harder than catching a killer.

When a young woman is found strangled, a pathologist is struck by the similarities to a string of other unsolved murders. Wyclife and his team have to unearth 11-year old evidence to see if they can trace a link.

A petty criminal turns into a killer. A man is stabbed to death in a pub car park by a stranger. As Wycliffe investigates, the victim turns out not to be the upstanding businessman he seemed to be.

Pursued by the press, under the spotlight of an internal investigation, and lacking support from his superiors, Wyclife's problems multiply when an old case resurfaces, and DCC Stevens seems out to prove Wycliffe is no longer up to the job.

Wycliffe is accused of taking bribes and is suspended.