A body caught in a boat wreck. A young constable acting strangely. A young woman determined that her Patrick has been replaced. An international conspiracy tied to Ireland. And a new task for Mr. Hardy: to find who killed the man on the sandbar, and how it connects to Constable Foster and his family.

When a strangled body caught in a wreck that has floated onto a sandbar turns out to be an Irishman from Constable Foster's home town, James Hardy is asked to investigate the murder. But the young constable has disappeared, and his romantic partner Aroha believes another man has been sent to replace him.

An Irish gang has arrives in New Zealand to wreak havoc in the name of the cause of the Irish Brotherhood. But what do they intend to do, and how does their plot connect to the body found on the sandbar? Mr. Hardy is going to discover the truth.