1First Love
Lawyer Jane Kennedy returns with her rebellious teen-aged daughter Beth to the seaside town of Lighthaven to take up the post of coroner. 17-year old bad boy Steve Kernan is found dead at the foot of a tower and suicide is suspected but Steve's secret, pregnant girlfriend Sophie believes there was foul play involved. The night before her possessive father had thrown Steve out of the house and the boy's own father John has violent tendencies. A broken watch and Beth's boyfriend Matt, who was Steve's best friend, help Jane and old flame D.S. Davey Higgins solve the mystery of the lad's death.
2How to Catch a Lobster
When a body washes up on a beach Davey is convinced it is that of Kevin Burton who went missing after robbing the casino where he worked. Jane however believes it could be the result of a botched burial at sea and has her assistant Clint interviewing local undertakers, where he discovers sharp practice and a link with the dead man's identity.
3That's the Way to Do It
After antagonizing several people by stamping out traditions, including Punch and Judy, abrasive mayor Una Drake is found dead in a hotel room. For all her moral stance she was in an affair with young gigolo Danny Ball though estranged husband Gavin seemed remarkably tolerant about it. She had been threatened by a friend of the Punch and Judy man and her daughter Hannah tells Jane that she had' hundreds' of enemies. Jane puts herself in danger to find out which of them killed Una.
4The Fisherman's Tale
Wealthy restaurateur Peter Bradshaw is shot by a sniper whilst launching his latest eaterie and his wife tells Jane that he was in receipt of death threats. Arrogant Scotland Yard inspector Ben Marshall takes over the case, to the annoyance of Davey, and surmises that the victim was killed by an international terror organization. Jane and Davey however use their local knowledge to identify the sniper but must then establish who paid them to kill Peter.
5Gilt
Metal detectorist Errol Prowse is killed after finding a cache of valuable coins. Locals believe it is Long Ben's treasure and anybody who finds it will be cursed. Museum curator Tal Greening tells Jane they are fake but Errrol's granddaughter Amelia claims she believes his find was real but fakes were substituted after he was murdered. Errol was not popular with other treasure hunters, two of whom shared a secret but Tal and even Amelia are also under suspicion
6Capsized
Ian Igby's corpse is found in a container washed up from a shipwreck and, given Ian's criminal past, Davey believes he was trying to steal from it - as does the ship's owner Grantham Nasby, whose daughter Abby was engaged to Ian. Store-keeper Keegan Brubaker also has no love for Ian, who once robbed his shop. However, whilst the locals gleefully loot the ship's contents from the beach Jane and Davey discover that, far from breaking the law, Ian was trying to do a noble deed for which he paid with his life.
7The Salcombe Selkie
Peter and Molly Walker are astounded when their teenage daughter Leah, presumed drowned some months earlier, reappears in Light haven. She has apparently no memory of recent events and Jane and Davey believe she has been kidnapped. However when the supposed kidnapper is found dead they are forced to look at another reason for Leah's disappearance.
8Napoleon's Violin
Bullying aristocrat Donald Sidwell is slain and a violin once belonging to Napoleon Bonaparte stolen. His agoraphobic daughter Olivia, her boyfriend Terence Brooks, cowed son Edward and Edward's daughter Lily, an expert markswoman are all in the frame. Davey suspects Edward - whose wife vanished in mysterious circumstances years earlier - but then Terence, a convicted fraudster, goes on the run. The violin proves to be a copy but Donald has a secret of his own for Jane to discover before the case is closed.
9The Deep Freeze
Robert Talbot is found dead in the freezer at his ice cream factory on the eve of its sale to an American company. His son Andrew and Jane are suspicious of his glamorous trophy wife Christine, who has already buried two other husbands but Davey is convinced that cash-strapped Andrew is the culprit. When Christine survives being poisoned Jane is less sure of her initial deduction and seeks the truth from Robert's loyal manager Rose Porter.
10Dirty Dancing
As Lighthaven prepares for a Latin American dance weekend Isabella Martinez, a Cuban dancer who has come for the event, is found dead in a street.. The dance evening goes ahead with Jane being partnered by handsome Egyptian doctor Mel Siddiqui but next day Isabella's body disappears and it is apparent that she has been used as a drugs mule. Davey is quick to suspect Mel but Jane believes that Paula, the cash-strapped dance teacher, her very young husband and resentful daughter all have something to hide and determines to find out.
1The Drop Zone
Rafe Phelps, owner of the Drop Zone sky-diving school, is killed when his parachute fails to open, the cords having been cut. Devastated widow Jess has long feared for his safety but feels excluded from his work clique, co-owner and ex-lover Lori, drink-loving mechanic Eddie and fellow diver young Stix, all claiming to revere him. Rafe drew out a large sum of money before died arousing Jane's suspicions but medical records provide a clue to solving the case.
2Perfectly Formed
Building work on a deserted and long-abandoned cottage unearths a baby's skeleton from forty years earlier. The link is made to a former children's home and three orphans who lived there, siblings Lee and Sara Millar, Karen Shaw and a mystery girl none of them can - or will - recognize. Phil Tate, son of the home's former warden, is believed to be the child's father but a bizarre discovery leads to the mother being identified and to a scandal several people allied to keep quiet.
3Those in Peril
Erica Ryland, a member of the local lifeboat crew, drowns when she is washed overboard but Jane believes her life-jacket was deliberately sabotaged. The boat's skipper Chrissy Woodward tells Jane that Erica was not happy with boyfriend Phillip and had a termination without telling him. Soon afterwards another crew member, Bob Fountain, is murdered and Chrissy survives an attempt to kill her too. Jane realizes that the crew members are being punished for their part in a murder from several years earlier and must act fast to save another victim.
4The Beast of Lighthaven
After Beth shows him a photo of a dead sheep on the nearby moors journalist Ben Fairhead approaches her claiming there is a big cat at large though he is disbelieved by all except farmer John Roxwell. Then Ben is savagely killed, apparently by a wild animal and his ex-girlfriend, John's daughter Gemma tells Jane he believed the beast killed his mother who disappeared fifteen years earlier - though in fact her murderer was caught. Jane however is convinced that Ben's killer was not feline but a human anxious to prevent him from exposing a guilty secret.
5The Captain's Pipe
After an argument with Mick, Tam Bryant, landlord of rival pub the Captain's Pipe is found dead beneath a rock-fall though Jane learns that he was actually killed by a blow to the head after meeting a mysterious caller in the secret tunnel leading from his pub to the beach. As children Mick, Tam and Tam's ex-wife Roz used the tunnel as their playground and Mick, as chief suspect, is arrested. Jane works with Davey to interview members of Tam's family to clear his name.
6Life
Called to the local jail after inmate Charlie Macendrick has over-dosed Jane is approached by his cell-mate Sidney Sutton, a man accused of murdering Sophie Marks eight years earlier though no body was found. Sutton tells Jane that Macendrick was killed by another prisoner Malik Negasi, who soon afterwards absconds, helped by greedy officer Ben Arnold in a quest to find money supposedly hidden by Macendrick. Jane soon realizes that one of the parties involved is manipulating her for their own advantage but must first rescue her daughter Beth, who has been abducted by a desperate man in order to learn the truth about two murders and to locate Sophie's body.
7Perfect Pair
A young man is found dead on a country road beside a Porsche but the car's owner, haughty entrepreneur Jason Daniels and his wife Anna claim not to know him with Jason telling Davey the car was stolen. The dead man turns out to be window-cleaner Fred Clegg, who borrowed Jason's car to pass himself off as a wealthy pilot to a girl he met on the Perfect Pair dating site and since he was driving the Porsche Davey assumes he was mistaken for Jason, the intended victim, particularly after a bizarre confession from Jason himself. Jane however thinks differently and sets out to prove it.
8The Foxby Affair
Twenty years earlier aristocrat Jerry Foxby went on the run after accidentally killing escort Helen Boyd. Now, hearing that Jerry's brother Oliver wants him declared officially dead so that he can inherit his title, a woman approaches Jane claiming to be Helen Boyd but is found dead next day. Evidence suggests that Oliver murdered her to silence her about what really happened to Jerry but Jane believes Oliver's wife is holding back information about a secret deal struck twenty years before
9Pieces of Eight
During the town's Pirate festival robbers in appropriate fancy dress pull off a wage snatch at the same time that Jane finds a body washed up on the beach. Ruby Hamilton, cleaner for arrogant businessman Don Shapur, claims it is her husband Dick but Dick is very much alive, a key robbery suspect who goes on the run. Shapur's unhappy son Kass incriminates his father as being in on the heist as he is broke but Kass is himself being manipulated by an unlikely robber, one of a trio out for revenge.
10Crash
Seventeen year old Ellie Patterson, daughter of Mick's former barmaid Debbie, is killed in a car crash but the post mortem reveals that she was the passenger, the driver apparently having left her to die. Prime suspect is boyfriend Nick Caldwell but he has an alibi and tells Davey that Ellie was seeing another man. However all prints have been wiped clean from the car. At the funeral Debbie makes an impassioned plea for the driver to own up but it is Beth's unsuitable friend Megan who has the answer.
