After a murder at the Brokenwood Steampunk event, Mike and his team are thrown into a world of dress-up and escapism where the suspects all have alter-egos.

World-renowned crime-writing author Jack Rudd visits Brokenwood to give a reading at the local book club from his latest novel ‘Knife in the Back'. He visits — but never leaves, falling victim to a method of murder portrayed in his own book.

The members of the Brokenwood Duck Stalking Association are set to shoot on the first day of the new season. Fingers are ready on the trigger as the eight hunters wait patiently for ducks to fly. But then the misty morning presents an unusual sight as a lone wildlife protester sails into the duck shooting cove. Ducks fly, shots are fired but only the protester, Leslie Garrett, falls down dead. With nobody prepared to take the blame Mike and the team are led to believe Leslie was shot by a mysterious ninth hunter seen briefly through the mist. Unable to determine who it was, Mike is forced to think more laterally than usual. Was Leslie's death just a case of careless use of a firearm or were the ducks never the target in the first place?

A suspicious suicide in Brokenwood Women's Prison leads Mike and the team to uncover a complex murder. And for Mike this one is personal — he knew the victim Corina Doyle from his days prior to Brokenwood. As Mike and the team investigate they're brought into contact with several familiar female convicts from the past: Trudy Neilson, Brenda White and Rayleen Hogg. They're all doing their time and all up to no good. And with Corina's passing new information surfaces about an old crime. A secret from her past that will answer a nagging question that Mike has carried for 8 years. However, for that secret to come out, Corina had to entrust it with someone and that someone wants Mike to do a deal.