Normally a peaceful wilderness retreat, the Jackalberry bush camp has suddenly become a ghastly crime scene—and Detective David "Kubu" Bengu is assigned to the case. Zimbabwean teacher Goodluck Tinubu and another tourist have been found bludgeoned to death, while another guest at the camp—rumored to be a dissident wanted in Zimbabwe—has disappeared without a trace.

With the local police unable—or unwilling—to provide much assistance, Detective Kubu must rely on his own instincts. But a startling piece of forensic evidence from Goodluck Tinubu's murder adds a complicated twist to the investigation, and Kubu has to work fast to solve a seemingly impossible riddle before more Jackalberry guests meet their deaths.