It's a mad, mad world. President John F. Kennedy has been assassinated; the world has changed and tremors are being felt even all the way in Ballarat where Jean Blake is unexpectedly drawn into the investigation of a pair of murders. No one knows the town's history better than Jean and she's determined to help, despite pushback from Chief Superintendent Matthew Lawson. Jean's whole world has fallen apart with Doctor Lucien Blake missing, presumed dead. But that same inner strength which got her through the losses of war and enabled her to raise two sons on her own will not allow her to be defeated. Ably aided by friends Chief Superintendent Matthew Lawson and newly appointed Police Surgeon, Doctor Alice Harvey, Jean is about to throw herself back into a world she thought she had left behind.