On Christmas Eve, 1943, the newly formed but undermanned Homicide
division of the Melbourne police force is called to investigate the
vicious double murder of a father and son. When Military Intelligence
becomes involved, Homicide's Inspector Titus Lambert must unravel the
personal from the political.
If only the killings had stopped at two. The police are desperate to
come to grips with an extraordinary and disquieting upsurge of violence.
For Constable Helen Lord, it is an opportunity to make her mark in a
male-dominated world where she is patronised as a novelty. For Detective
Joe Sable, the investigation forces a reassessment of his indifference
to his Jewish heritage. Racing against the clock, the police uncover
simmering tensions among secretive local Nazi sympathisers as a
psychopathic fascist usurper makes his move.
The Holiday Murders explores a little-known and sometimes violent
corner of Australian history, and finds oddly modern echoes in its
paranoia, xenophobia, and ugly fervour.