When hordes of eighteen-year-olds descend on the Mornington Peninsula to celebrate the end of exams, a brutal bashing attracts political attention. The victim is connected, and now D. I. Hal Challis is facing interference from on high. Newly embarked on a relationship with his Sergeant, Ellen Destry, Challis doesn’t need the brass looking over his shoulder. Then a bludgeoned corpse is found outside town, and it’s clear something much darker than adolescent craziness is going down.