A satire on life in small-town Australia, this clever murder mystery introduces William Power—actor, raconteur, and Shakespearean impresario. In 1942, with war raging in Europe and the Pacific, the Japanese army is on Australia's doorstep, and the small coastal Queensland town of Maryborough is on full alert. They are not, however, prepared for the arrival of a troupe of incompetent actors whose unjustifiably self-confident leader is determined to bring his daring production of Titus Andronicus to the rural barbarians. Unfortunately for Power, when a young woman goes missing and is found floating dead in the town's water supply, he becomes the prime suspect in her murder. With every misplaced step he takes, he becomes more and more embroiled in a series of crimes that baffle the police and horrify the locals.