Case file · Series 12, Episode 2 · Season 12, Episode 2
The Black Book
A rediscovered Victorian landscape sells for £400,000 before its former owner is killed and another painting disappears.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
The art market gives Barnaby a case where provenance, attribution and price are more dangerous than taste.
- Best for
- Art auction · Forgery · Stolen ledger
- Mood
- Dark
- Team
- DCI Tom Barnaby with DS Ben Jones
- Spoiler guidance
- Read the premise freely; open the marked sections only after watching. Check the linked provider advisory for further viewing information.
Why it matters
The art market gives Barnaby a case where provenance, attribution and price are more dangerous than taste.
A newly discovered landscape by nineteenth-century painter Henry Hogson causes a sensation and reaches £400,000 at auction. That night its former owner, Felicity Law, is tortured and killed; a second Hogson is then stolen and further violent deaths follow.
With help from art teacher Matilda Simms, Barnaby learns to read the painter's work and the commercial records around it. The missing black book matters because a credible ownership history can turn pigment and canvas into a fortune—or expose a deception.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
Who was the killer in The Black Book? (spoiler)
The paintings' values depend on manufactured provenance. Barnaby follows the missing ledger and inconsistencies in the works to expose a scheme protected by torture, theft and murder.
Spoiler-safe viewing companion
Three questions to carry into the episode
Three spoiler-safe questions for your rewatch.
- Place
What does Midsomer County conceal?
- Theme
Which details could have more than one meaning?
- Teamwork
Watch DCI Tom Barnaby and DS Ben Jones: who notices what?
More episode detailsProduction, cast, deaths and filming information
Credits, context and checked facts
Production and cast
- TV series
- Series 12
- Episode number
- Episode 2
- Written by
- Nicholas Martin
- Directed by
- Peter Smith
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 26 March 2009 29 July 2009
- Reported filming period
- July–August 2008
- Detective
- DCI Tom Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Ben Jones
- Pathologist
- Dr George Bullard · Barry Jackson
- Principal setting
- Midsomer County
- Casebook tone
- Dark
Sources accompany the production credits and filming links.
Fictional settings and real filming places are listed separately. Filming links include 3 mapped areas; 4 exact sites.
Credits and archive connections
- Writer credits3 episodes credited to Nicholas Martin
- Director credits22 episodes directed by Peter Smith
- Release positionCase 68 of 144
- Story characterDark · Art auction · Forgery
- Location evidence4 exact screen-use matches
Henley Town Hall is used for the high-profile Hogson auction.
Chesham Museum and Eton's Barker Gallery appear as the Hogson Society and rival galleries.
Sources for the production file
Published episode chronology and credits ↗Official ITV programme page ↗Filming-location reference index ↗Credits follow the linked chronology. Dates can differ between territories. Consult original credits for story, teleplay and adaptation wording. External synopses may contain spoilers.
Selected episode credits
The Black Book cast
These selected cast entries link to their published profiles. They do not include every name shown in the end credits.
Jane Wymark
Kirsty Dillon
Paul Anderson
David Bamber
Susannah Harker
Sarah Badel
Paula Jennings
Ann Firbank
Charlotte Asprey
Christopher Fulford
Gavan O'Herlihy
Victoria Shalet
Victoria Lennox
Paul Ridley
Tim Stanmore
Neville Phillips
Iain Mitchell
The performers behind this case
Core cast
Follow the cast links for full actor and character guides.
John Nettles
Tom Barnaby · Detective Chief Inspector- Bergerac
- Poldark
- Royal Shakespeare Company
Jason Hughes
Ben Jones · Police Constable · Detective Sergeant · Inspector- This Life
- Marcella
- The Pact
Barry Jackson
Dr George Bullard · Police pathologist- Cathy Come Home
- Doctor Who
- Barry Lyndon
Image credits identify the licence used. No programme publicity stills are reproduced.
Forensic team
Dr George Bullard
- Credit
- Resident pathologist
- Played by
- Barry Jackson
Spoiler-controlled deaths
Deaths recorded in this case
3 people die in this case, according to the linked death record.
Break the seal: reveal the list of deaths
- Felicity Law
Murder · Stabbing or impalement
Performer check- Felicity Law: Ann Firbank
- Graham Spate
Murder · Stabbing or impalement
Performer check- Graham Spate: Paul Anderson
- Anthony Prideaux
Murder · Stabbing or impalement
Performer check- Anthony Prideaux: David Bamber
Break a second seal: reveal the verified killer
Who was the killer in The Black Book? (spoiler)
Patricia BlackshawPatricia killed Felicity Law and Graham Spate while forcing them to reveal the forgery scheme and the location of the Black Book, then killed Anthony Prideaux and used the evidence to blackmail George Arlington. Matilda Simms and Arlington's destruction of forged works remains a separate offence.
Verified motive
Patricia was driven by greed and her old hatred of Arnold Simms and Felicity, who had replaced her in Arnold's affections. She pursued the forger and the Black Book so she could blackmail those implicated, killing Felicity, Graham and Anthony as each obstructed that plan or held the evidence she wanted.
Verified important clue
Archive case 68 · checked 16 September 2026The Black Book of errors in the forged HogsonsMatilda's father recorded the deliberate error in every forgery as an insurance policy; the stolen ledger identifies the fake paintings, supplies the blackmail leverage Patricia wants and explains why Graham and Anthony are killed as it passes between them.
Verified decisive clue
Archive case 68 · checked 17 September 2026The Black Book of errors in the forged HogsonsThe ledger records the deliberate flaw in every forgery, identifies the fake works and supplies the blackmail leverage Patricia pursued through Felicity, Graham and Anthony. Its movement and the tracked library exchange resolve Patricia's three murders while leaving Matilda and Arlington's destruction of the forgeries as a separate offence.
Verified death and discovery order
Archive case 68 · checked 16 September 2026- deathFelicity Law is killed
Patricia confronts Felicity after the auction and kills the woman who displaced her in Arnold Simms's affections and knows about the forgeries.
- discoveryThe missing Black Book becomes the key
The ledger identifying the forged Hogsons links the killings to the concealed art scheme and Patricia's search for leverage.
- deathGraham Spate is killed
Patricia restrains and kills Graham while forcing him to reveal what he knows about the forger and the Black Book.
- deathAnthony Prideaux is killed
Patricia kills Anthony after the stolen ledger passes through his attempted blackmail of George Arlington.
- discoveryArlington is blackmailed with the ledger
Patricia uses the Black Book to demand money, while Matilda and Arlington's destruction of forged works remains a separate offence.
- discoveryThe library exchange leads to Patricia
A tracked money bag and switched shopping trolley expose Patricia before she can leave with the proceeds.
Real place → fictional identity
Where was The Black Book filmed?
Burnham Beeches Hotel
Used as: The hotel is dressed as The Golden Hind.
Chesham Museum
Used as: The museum becomes Patricia Blackshaw's gallery and the Hogson Society headquarters.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.The Barker Gallery
Used as: The gallery appears as Anthony Prideaux's art business.
Henley Town Hall
Used as: The civic hall supplies the auction room for the newly discovered Hogson.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.Sources accompany the identified filming places.
Wider filming areas
