When Detective Inspector Hal Challis is called to investigate the brutal murder of Janine McQuarrie, who was shot on a lonely country road in front of her seven-year-old daughter, his inquiries are hindered by a web of lies and secrets. It doesn't help that Janine's father-in-law is Challis's superior at the police: Superintendent McQuarrie is a pompous bureaucrat and is on familiar terms with the upper crust of the Peninsula as a golfer and Rotarian. Hal Challis's liaison with Tessa Kane, the editor of the local newspaper, further breeds distrust among the police officers in Waterloo, who are reluctant to reveal their cards. The guests at the sex parties in the tidy suburban homes also want to remain anonymous at all costs. Everyone in Waterloo has something to hide and something to lose.