Murder often comes with an easy scapegoat...
When a boatman is murdered on a remote island off Van Diemen's Land, the authorities want to blame a famous, and very inconvenient, political prisoner.
Hugh Llewelyn Monsarrat and his trusty housekeeper, Mrs Mulrooney, are sent to remote Maria Island to solve the murder of corrupt tradesman Bart Harefield.
They soon realise their job is to tie Irish revolutionary Thomas Power neatly to the crime, so he can be hanged without inciting rebellion.
But are there others with better reasons for wanting Harefield shut up?