Gemma Wyatt, a wildlife ranger, is found dead off the coast of the bird sanctuary where she spent the night alone whilst colleagues celebrated her boss Sophia's leaving do on shore. Estranged sister Alice accuses Gemma's boatman boyfriend Ryan of trying to force her to sell the family farm but he claims it was for Alice's own good. Vera establishes that Gemma was killed before the others left for the mainland, making them all suspects, and also locates a couple who blame Gemma for their son's death on the island some years earlier. Then Alice hits Vera with a surprise revelation, leading to evidence of Gemma's infidelity and involvement in a blackmail plot before the killer is revealed. Written by don @ minifie-1

Young drug addict Nathan Weaver is found murdered, in a rural river and Vera wonders why he had not sold a valuable ring found on his body to finance his habit. He had briefly worked at Brian Bennick's food factory and fathered a child by Kelly, another addict he met at Father O'Brien's needle exchange. On the night he died he had been dossing at a deserted farmhouse where, several years earlier Eddie Thurston was arrested for murdering his wife and a suspect in the case, Jeb Branning just happened to find the body. There are several other links between the night of Mrs Thurston's death and the present that will ultimately assist Vera in solving both murders and the mystery of the ring. Written by don @ minifie-1

Journalism student Jamie Marshall falls to his death from the roof of a derelict college building after posting an angry online rant about extortionate tuition fees and suicide is suspected. But Vera learns that somebody had assaulted him days before his death and his friend Lucy recalls hearing him argue with an older man. Furthermore he was hoping to sell a story that would ruffle feathers to a local newspaper. Children's entertainer Ian Holland, who bears a bitter grudge against Jamie's long-estranged father, enters the frame but reticent fellow student Rory Marston and his glib lawyer father Alan also have something to hide. Vera must establish whether Jamie's murder was an act of revenge or to prevent him from exposing a high profile fraud. Written by don @ minifie-1

The corpse of teen-aged Mia Hinkin is discovered six weeks after her disappearance from the remote farm-house where she lived with stern parents Mal and Nell. She was last seen at a rock concert where she was perceived arguing with an older man, possibly stable owner Gary Tovey, for whom she occasionally worked. Eastern European casual pickers from an adjacent farm are also in the frame but everybody in the area agrees that she was desperate to leave her home and her locally unpopular parents. Vera suspects that somebody she met at the festival was helping her to escape to a happier, urban existence and holds the clue to her death but cannot dismiss the many neighbouring friends and ex-lover who were keen to help her move away from her miserable rural life, even the younger brother with whom she shared her confidences. Written by don @ minifie-1