Cirrus@Austlit

'It is the winter of 1942. In the wartime blackout, a midnight bus breaks down near the small, semi-rural town of Bexford North, 30 miles from Sydney. Outside the bus, a passenger screams as torchlight fall on the body of a soldier stabbed to death. Inspector Peters is summoned to solve the mystery, but soon another more horrific murder follows.

In the midst of a country at war and a town in terror, the fabric of this close-knit and respectable community is torn asunder. Inspector Peters struggles through the complexities of the lives and attitudes of the villagers: their loves, jealousies, fears, prejudices, their silent heroism and, equally, their silent anguish and despair -- all lived out against an overwhelming fear of invasion.

With the help of the eccentric Annie Watson, Inspector Peters arrives at a startling truth.

War continues, life returns to normal ...and the Dance Goes On.' (Source: Publisher's blurb)