Toronto, November 1917. The Great War is grinding on, chewing up young men by the thousands. With enforced conscription and horrendous carnage, the enthusiasm for war is dimming in the loyal Dominion of Canada. William Murdoch, now a widower, spends his time tracking down bootleggers and trying to repair his relationship with his only son, Jack. Recently returned from France after being gassed and wounded at Passchendaele, Jack is deeply troubled, and seems to be bound to another former soldier, Percy McKinnon, by a mysterious secret.

But Murdoch soon has much more serious crimes than rum-running on his hands. A young man is found stabbed to death on the night that Jack and Percy arrive home. Followed by a tragic suicide and two more murders, the only connection between the deaths is that all the young men were exempt from conscription. Murdoch must solve these crimes before more innocents are killed – but Jack seems to know more about the murders than he should...