Death is stalking the southern South Island. And what role does the visiting Darling Brothers Circus have to play? Sam Shephard is on the bottom rung of detective training in Dunedin, and her boss makes sure she knows it. She gets involved in her first homicide investigation there when a university student is murdered in the Botanic Gardens. Sam soon discoveres this is not an isolated incident. There is a chilling prospect of a predator loose in Dunedin. Is the murderer in the circus or closer to home? Sam must find out who's running the show.