New contemporary detective series based on the novel by crime writer Ann Cleeves. DCI Vera Stanhope is obsessive about her work and driven by her own demons, and her most trusted and long-suffering colleague is DS Joe Ashworth - her right-hand man and surrogate son. In the first episode, Vera and Joe investigate after two beautiful young people are killed in the same manner - placed in water and garlanded with flowers. Vera knows that she must find the murderer before they strike again. Soon after arriving at the crime scenes, the detectives start to interview the friends and relatives of the victims. Sinister secrets are slowly unearthed as Vera and her team unpick the complex and dysfunctional relationships amongst a group of bird-watching friends. But as the friends' loyalty turns to betrayal, Vera gradually discovers the truth. Has a small act of teenage blackmail and an illicit affair involving one of the group driven someone to kill to preserve the status quo?

New episode based on the novel by Ann Cleeves. After Jeanie Long's suicide hits the headlines, evidence comes to light exonerating her for the murder of 15-year-old Abigail Mantel 11 years earlier. Jeanie had always insisted on her innocence but no-one - including her own family - believed her. Vera sets out to solve the mystery of Abigail's death, and she and her team delve into the secrets and lies of a small community which is still feeling the repercussions of the killing. Vera digs away at the evidence in her efforts to get closer to the truth, but not before the case takes a violent and unexpected turn when another, potentially connected, murder occurs. With a killer on the loose and the pressure building, Vera must use her skill and instinct to expose the lies at the community's heart - and to lay the ghosts of Abigail and Jeanie to rest.

Spooky and elemental, the Crow Trap is set in the dramatic Northumberland countryside. A murder at a remote cottage takes DI Vera Stanhope back to a place full of childhood memories and an unsolved case from her earlier career. Delving into the local politics surrounding a controversial proposal to dig a quarry, Vera and her team find motives in the unlikeliest of places, shadowy liaisons and conflicting sympathies, until they realise that the truth could be hidden within the land itself.

A woman is brutally murdered in a hedgerow. Her son escapes the violent attack, only to fall through the ice of a frozen pond, where Vera finds him many minutes later. She wades in and pulls him out and, against all the odds, the boy survives. Gradually, DI Vera Stanhope and her team unravel deadly secrets and their murderous consequences - fuelled by power, money, and above all a mother's love. Vera, usually awkward and disinterested around children, finds a kindred spirit in the boy and begins to realise along the way that the key to the investigation lies deep in the child's memory.

New series of the detective drama based on characters created by crime writer Ann Cleeves. Vera's reunion with her first-ever sergeant, Stuart Macken, occurs under tragic circumstances when his house is petrol-bombed. Stuart is badly burned by the attack and his 18-year-old daughter Stella is left fighting for her life in intensive care. Vera is shocked to see that Stuart is a shadow of the man she knew 20 years before and, when her investigation uncovers unpleasant revelations about his personal life, she is faced with some long-buried memories of her own.

D.C.I. Vera Stanhope investigates the case of murdered social worker, Jenny Lister. Deciphering the motive behind the brutal murder of a woman who presents as honourable and well liked proves difficult but an infamous case involving the death of a child appears to hold the key. Working tirelessly, Vera and her team uncover the failure of an understaffed and overworked social work system and the far reaching effects for all those involved. Through her innate empathy and intuition, Vera determinedly pursues the truth until she discovers the real secret at the heart of Jenny's death and the killer who will stop at nothing to protect it. Knowing that the murderer has already targeted their next victim, Vera and Joe are faced with a race against time - will they get there in time to prevent another death?