Exactly nine years after Ferdy Villiers killed himself, his family gathers, with guests, for Christmas at Draycott House, their ancestral country seat - a big country house which has seen better days. There are already tensions in the air when it becomes clear that the surviving members of the Villiers family have some dark secrets to keep. A riddle in a Christmas cracker accurately predicts two deaths. Then Jennifer Carter dies in what seems at first to be a shooting accident, after a shotgun is interfered with, and Aunt Lydia is fatally injured by being pushed downstairs. To solve the crimes in the present day, Barnaby is sure he needs to understand the past suicides of Ferdy Villiers and Clare English.
Elenco: John Nettles , Jane Wymark , Barry Jackson , Laura Howard , Neil Dudgeon , Jason Hughes , Fiona Dolman , Tamzin Malleson , Kirsty Dillon , Daniel Casey , John Hopkins , Nick Hendrix , Gwilym Lee .