In the summer of 1931, helping a neighbour unleashes a chain of events that threatens to tear the close-knit but impoverished Northam Street community apart. Daisy is convinced death is coming for someone. Will it be Jacob’s wife, Annie, or the women who have spirited her away—Nancy, the prostitute, Mabel, the handywoman or Daisy herself? Albie believes Jacob’s war wounds are behind his strange behaviour. The neighbours think he’s dangerous. If Albie can’t persuade them that Jacob poses no threat, somebody will get badly hurt. Sam’s unrequited love for Nancy is the least of his problems. He thinks he has escaped his troubled past until someone starts attacking women down by the docks. Then fingers point at him.