The coach of the rugby team is found dead, strapped to a goal post.

A cast member in The Brokenwood Theatre Society's production of Hamlet collapses and dies after a performance. But the smell of poison leads Shepherd to believe that he has not "shuffled off this mortal coil" without help.

When a severed human hand is discovered in a crayfisherman's catch, Shepherd and his team need to discover whose it is and whether its owner is still alive.

A touring musician is found electrocuted in what initially looks to be a suicide. As Shepherd investigates, he finds things are murkier than they first appeared.