A decent man in an indecent time ...
When Jack Furey has his 100th birthday celebrations forced upon him, his mind turns to his experience of WWII as a police sergeant in 1942 in Far North Queensland.
As Sergeant Furey of the Wangamba Police, he welcomed the arrival of the Americans to set up an Air Force base near the new RAAF base outside town. Despite personal misgivings about the separation of the black soldiers from the whites' camp, Furey gains the agreement of the US colonel to co-operate with local law enforcement.
But with so many soldiers around, the town changes. A new Americans-only dancehall is only the start of the trouble. Among rumours of prostitution, teen pregnancies and backyard abortions, the bodies start to pile up. When the wife of a returned Australian soldier claims a 'blackfella' murdered him in their home, Furey is determined to uncover the truth - no matter how unwelcome the US brass and local dignitaries find his investigations.
