Dalziel & Pascoe

On Halloween, Kate Johnson is killed in her bedroom, the victim of a shotgun blast. Her husband Guy is the obvious suspect, having now disappeared. In an odd twist, the couple had been part of a television broadcast the previous Halloween where hypnotist Lee Knight demonstrated that people could be induced to do anything, including murder. The dead woman's daughter, Katherine Taylor, is convinced that the hypnotic suggestions of a year ago are what caused her father to kill her mother and that Knight is responsible. When she is found dead however, the case takes yet another turn. Meanwhile, Dalziel undergoes hypnotherapy to quit smoking.

On Halloween, Kate Johnson is killed in her bedroom, the victim of a shotgun blast. Her husband Guy is the obvious suspect, having now disappeared. In an odd twist, the couple had been part of a television broadcast the previous Halloween where hypnotist Lee Knight demonstrated that people could be induced to do anything, including murder. The dead woman's daughter, Katherine Taylor, is convinced that the hypnotic suggestions of a year ago are what caused her father to kill her mother and that Knight is responsible. When she is found dead however, the case takes yet another turn. Meanwhile, Dalziel undergoes hypnotherapy to quit smoking.

As the body count continues to rise, Dalziel and Pascoe continue to focus their investigation on Lee Knight. Knight continues to maintain his innocence and says he's being set up by someone. The police uncover that most of the principals are involved in witchcraft of one sort or another. As the victims' bodies are being dismembered, they believe the killer is set to perform some type of ritual. Pascoe believes Knight is innocent and the true killer is someone who is well-known to Andy.