Case file · Series 24, Episode 2
Book of the Dead
A disgraced author's revived treasure-hunt book sends Mods Mire searching for clues shortly before its creator is murdered.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
The programme turns a puzzle book into both village entertainment and a map of unfinished business.
- Best for
- Treasure hunt · Literary legacy · Buried history
- Mood
- Dark
- Team
- DCI John Barnaby with DS Jamie Winter
- Spoiler guidance
- Read the premise freely; open the marked sections only after watching. This is not a complete content advisory.
Why it matters
The programme turns a puzzle book into both village entertainment and a map of unfinished business.
A disgraced author's revived treasure-hunt book sends Mods Mire searching for clues shortly before its creator is murdered.
Mods Mire marks the anniversary of Bertram Jewell's celebrated puzzle book, The Seeker, with a new edition containing an additional page of clues. Celebration turns sour when the author's former identity and imprisonment become public, raising doubts about both his reputation and the promised treasure.
After Jewell is killed, the hunt continues through the woodland, church and businesses of Mods Mire. Barnaby and Winter must determine who understands the new clue sheet, what was hidden during the author's earlier life, and why a literary revival has made several villagers dangerous.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
The new treasure hunt is inseparable from the author's earlier fraud, an old accomplice and information encoded for someone who knows his past rather than merely his books.
Open the full research dossierProduction, cast, forensics, deaths and filming evidence
Credits, context and checked facts
The episode file
- TV series
- Series 24
- Episode number
- Episode 2
- Written by
- Jeff Povey
- Directed by
- Gill Wilkinson
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 11 December 2023
- Reported filming period
- April–May 2023
- Detective
- DCI John Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Jamie Winter
- Pathologist
- Dr Fleur Perkins · Annette Badland
- Principal setting
- Mods Mire
- Casebook tone
- Dark
Check the credits, then follow the source trail for production and filming details. Counts below describe this archive’s records.
The fictional setting and the real filming sites are separate pieces of information. The location desk currently connects it to 0 broader filming areas and 3 exact on-screen site identities.
Credits and archive connections
- Writer ledger8 episodes credited to Jeff Povey
- Director ledger3 episodes directed by Gill Wilkinson
- Release positionCase 138 of 144
- Story characterDark · Treasure hunt · Literary legacy
- Location evidence3 exact screen-use matches
Mods Mire rearranges the letters of Midsomer, a piece of wordplay particularly suited to an episode built around coded clues.
Penn Street supplies the parish church, pub, antique-shop exterior and several village tracking shots used for the fictional community.
Sources for the production file
Published episode chronology and credits ↗Official ITV programme page ↗Filming-location reference index ↗The chronology is the reference for the credits shown here. A programme homepage does not independently verify a filming date or every production detail. Where multiple transmission dates are listed, territory attribution needs checking. Story, teleplay and adaptation distinctions require the original credit wording; links to external synopses may reveal plot details.
Selected episode credits
Guest cast on file
Selected profiles and published cast-list entries. Database records are linked individually; this is not a full transcription or an independent check against the end credits.
Shaun Dooley
Published cast record ↗Sally Lindsay
Published cast record ↗Selina Cadell
Published cast record ↗Jon Culshaw
Published cast record ↗Omid Djalili
Published cast record ↗The performers behind this case
Core cast
Actor profiles for the detective, investigating partner and pathologist credited to this episode.
Neil Dudgeon
John Barnaby · Detective Chief InspectorAn English actor whose television work before Causton included Piece of Cake, The Mrs Bradley Mysteries, Messiah and the sitcom Life of Riley. He also appeared in Midsomer Murders years earlier as a different character in Garden of Death.
- Messiah
- Life of Riley
- The Mrs Bradley Mysteries
Nick Hendrix
Jamie Winter · Detective SergeantAn English actor trained at the University of Exeter and RADA. His theatre work includes the National Theatre, Old Vic and West End, while his screen credits include Black Mirror, Marcella, The Crown, Legend and Suffragette.
- Black Mirror
- Marcella
- The Crown
Annette Badland
Dr Fleur Perkins · Police pathologistAn award-winning English actor with an extensive career in theatre, television, film and radio. Her many recognisable roles include Doctor Who, EastEnders, Outlander, Bergerac and pub landlady Mae in Ted Lasso.
- Ted Lasso
- Doctor Who
- EastEnders
Portraits are used only where a reusable licence or public-domain release has been verified. Publicity stills and stock photographs are not copied into this independent guide.
Forensic desk
Dr Fleur Perkins
- Credit
- Resident pathologist
- Played by
- Annette Badland
Fleur pairs forensic certainty with dry humour and a magnificently low tolerance for Midsomer nonsense.
Meet the Casebook pathologists →Spoiler-controlled deaths desk
Deaths recorded in this case
3 source rows represent 3 people in the current ledger.
Break the seal: reveal the death ledger
- Bertram Jewel
Murder · Blunt force
- Venetia Butts
Murder · Suffocation
- Venetia Butts's son
Murder · Drowning
Real place → fictional identity
What was filmed where?
Holy Trinity Church
Used as: The church becomes the parish church of fictional Mods Mire.
The Red Lion
Used as: The real pub keeps its name when it appears as The Red Lion in Mods Mire.
Elm Road shopfront
Used as: A village shopfront stands in for Othello Khan's antiques business, Kollectables.
Building identities are cross-checked against the Casebook's published filming-location references. A named match describes the part used on screen, not the whole village and not necessarily an interior.
Wider filming areas
Places connected to this file
No real-place link is published here until it can be tied to a specific, sourced screen use.