All children were a mixture of innocence and guile, Chris Blackie thought, but the innocence had been squashed out of Boby McGilvrey unnaturally young. A shocking murder rocks the quiet coastal Victorian town of Queenscliff, a place where police work usually entails minor traffic infringements and dealing with the occasional Saturday night drunk. Local senior constable Chris Blackie and his deputy Anthea Merritt fully expect a murder investigation...

A young camel disappears from its trainer's paddock and the coat of a murdered woman is found abandoned in the sand dunes. These seemingly unrelated events are a far cry from the regular police duties of Constable Chris Blackie and his rookie recruit from Melbourne, Anthea Merritt, in the small Australian seaside town of Queenscliff. Little by little and with a burgeoning sense of menace, these two unlikely detectives carefully navigate the eclectic,...

Carmen, Meredith's free-spirited niece, breezes into town and quickly confides in her aunt that she is both pregnant and on the run from the law. Three chefs storm into town to testify against Carmen, who posed as a restaurant critic in order to obtain free meals. Feeling a little insecure in the kitchen herself, Laura approaches Diver Dan for a few cooking lessons.

An invitation to the annual magistrate's dinner dance confirms Laura's suspicion that she is single in a world designed for couples. At least it encourages her to invite Dan, but her ego is battered when he surrenders himself with a pile of unpaid fines, choosing a jail sentence over a date with her. Karen questions how well she knows her parents when they return to town as born-again hippies.

A big night out on the town results in a car flying off Pearl Bay's condemned bridge. Several of the locals are under suspicion until Grey points the finger at Reg, the local garbage collector with a drinking problem. If Laura sentences such a popular local, she risks alienation, and when she isn't invited to a Jelly bash, she decides it is time she conformed with the local women.

In just 24 hours, corporate lawyer Laura Gibson's life is decimated. She is passed up for partnership, her son is expelled, and she discovers her husband has squandered their life savings and has been cheating on her. Desperate to escape, she accepts a job as magistrate of a small coastal town and packs her kids into the station wagon, headed for Pearl Bay.

When an old crony of Bob's proposes a housing development at a legendary local "parking" spot for couples, a protest ensues. By pure coincidence, Craig emerges as hero activist, impressing Miranda immensely. The attention and thrill of standing up to his father causes Craig to reevaluate his surroundings for the first time.

Laura wishes her first days in Pearl Bay could be as idyllic as the scenery. As the kids struggle to survive with no television and Laura's cooking, a lunch invitation to the Jelly house seems like a welcome distraction. But Bob Jelly's motive is soon evident, as Laura's first case ends up being a botched revenge plot against the man.

Sergeant Grey is suspicious of local "saint" Matthew Reily, who founded and mysteriously funds a youth training farm for the longtime unemployed. Bob, in his new quest to become a senator for the Here and Now party, decides to visit Matthew's farm with a small camera crew. In the presence of the cameras, Matthew is extremely cagey, and when he stands before Laura, he risks more than a fine.

The shock of Trudi's pregnancy has left Laura angry and determined to remove Jack from her life. As Laura sets out to forget her past, the town's celebration of its history-the annual Pearl Bay Pork Festival-is imminent, but things are not running smoothly. And Max has decided to return to life as a foreign correspondent, accepting a dangerous assignment in Kosovo.