A Ghost in the Machine is a work of detective fiction by Caroline Graham, the seventh in her popular Chief Inspector Barnaby series, which has been adapted into the equally successful ITV drama Midsomer Murders.
Midsomer resident Dennis Brinkley, an enthusiastic collector of old war machines and torture weapons, suffers a gruesome death after being crushed by one of his own devices. Although his demise is initially regarded as an accident, his best friend Benny believes otherwise, and her suspicions are only confounded by local psychic Ava Garrett, who tells her that she will ask Derek to identify his killer at her next seance.
However, the elusive murderer silences her before the event can go ahead, leaving Chief Inspector Barnaby, accompanied by his Sgt Gavin Troy, with two gruesome slayings and an increasingly complex mystery to unravel...