Joe and his little girl Jessie are on a train when Jessie notices that another passenger, elderly Margaret Kraszewski, has been killed with a single stab wound. Vera visits the coastal town of Mardle, where Margaret lodged with singer Kate Darrow, her two children and boyfriend Stuart. They all praise Margaret as an almost saintly woman and are amazed that anybody would want to kill her. Margaret volunteered at a women's hostel and when Dee, an alcoholic prostitute who lived there, is also found dead Vera suspects a connection, especially as Margaret wanted to report something to the police just before she died. Pub landlady Valerie Furlow tells Vera that Margaret and Dee were good friends who once lived together in the same house on Harbour Street. She believes that Margaret's Polish husband was violent to her and, as he disappeared suddenly thirty years ago, Vera wonders if he was murdered. The chief beneficiary from Margaret's will proves to be Dee and Vera learns that years ago ... Written by don @ minifie-1

As his father Alan celebrates his retirement from the family property firm David Kenworthy is found murdered on a beach several miles away. An immediate suspect is arcade owner Larry Crowe, seen arguing with David and who hates the Kenworthy family since his son fell to his death from their roof over thirty years ago. However he has an alibi. David's girlfriend Nicky accused him of keeping secrets from her, leading Vera to believe David was going to a clandestine meeting with his killer. Then Lorna, his sister, who has been estranged from her father for decades, arrives with her husband for the funeral and, after Alan has died of a heart attack, she admits to Vera the reason for her rift with her father and the true nature of her relationship with David. This in turn leads to the killer and their motive. Written by don @ minifie-1

Shane Thurgood, recently returned from Newcastle to his native village, is found dead of a single gunshot wound, a mile away from a burnt out van belonging to local poacher Linus Campion. Campion points the finger at gamekeeper Allen Barnes, father of his ex-wife Vanessa and of Clara Peyton, who is married to wealthy estate owner Will. Shane had come home to sell his late grandfather's farm to the Peytons but pulled out at the last minute, as he had fallen back in love with the countryside where he grew up and where Allen taught him to shoot. Shane had also written a successful novel, based on his relationship with the Barnes sisters when they were young and Vera looks to it for clues as to a murder motive, especially after Vanessa had visited him the day before his death to warn him to stop stalking Clara. However the death proves to be anything but calculated and concerned less with romance than with a long-standing rural tradition. Written by don @ minifie-1

Haulage contractor John Shearwood's body is dragged from a river and the bruises on his knuckles suggest that his death was not suicide. Estranged wife Stella and brother Luke thought that he was in Dublin on business but customs investigator Owen Preece tells Vera that John was working on his behalf to expose a smuggling racket by John's manager Mark Donovan. Donovan however was not at the murder scene at the time of death though both Stella and Billy, John's teen-age son, a recovering drug addict were both in the vicinity. John was leading a double life with a girl-friend Gemma Makins though she turns out to be the mother of a young boy whom a drunken Billy once accidentally ran over and killed. But then Billy makes a startling confession which eventually leads Vera to solving the case. Written by don @ minifie-1