Semi-retired. De-licensed. But Cliff Hardy is once again fighting for justice and tracking down evil when his cousin is brutally murdered - did the shotgun blast find its target, or was it meant for Hardy?

'The godfather of Australian crime fiction.'

Cliff Hardy may be semi-retired but he's as resolute as ever in fighting for justice and tracking down wrongdoers.

Hardy has never been much of a family man, so when he meets his second cousin Patrick Malloy it's like being hit with a left hook to the solar plexus - Malloy is his double. Cliff and his cousin become friends and travel to attend a gathering of the Irish Travellers - the gypsy-like folk from whom they are descended. On their return, a shotgun blast shatters their camaraderie. But who was the bullet aimed at, Malloy or Hardy? And why is Malloy's ex-wife, Sheila, now making her presence known to Hardy?

Hardy has his enemies and Malloy's to consider as he searches for a killer. Clues point in many directions - to Sheila's motives, to Malloy's suspect business dealings, to old scores being settled. The search takes Hardy north to a paramilitary training camp and to a meeting of Traveller descendants in Kangaroo Valley; everyone seems to have an interest and the playing style is ruthless.

Hardy is de-licensed and out of work . . . but this investigation is personal.