New Zealand 1888: After he is forced into retirement, Inspector William Henry James walks along the Wanganui River remembering an old case from the gold-mining town of Greymouth where he was in charge of the police camp. James was warned that a gang was about to commit a robbery and forced them to leave town. The gang went on to murder five men in one of the colony's most notorious crime sprees. Even worse, they left behind the body of a young surveyor who had been missing for several weeks. The novel is based on a true story.