Two special events in Tonga bring Detective Chief Inspector KulΔ« FΔ«nau and anthropologist Dr. Pip Carey together again. The National Centre is exhibiting a special display of fine mats from the Palace Collection, to celebrate a royal marriage between Tonga and SΔmoa. The Pacific Cultural Arts Festival has also brought artists and performers from all the Pacific Island nations to Nukualofa. With everyone so distracted by the festivities, Pip's studies among the local fakaleiti - the Tongan transgender community - must be put on hold. And KulΔ«'s plans for an evening off are thwarted when a number of crimes are uncovered.
First there is the attack on a police guard at the Centre exhibition and the theft of Mata-a-Maui, a priceless fine-mat. Next, the body of a fakaleiti, Josafina, is found in the grounds of the Breakwater Motel, where the public bar is a known hangout for Tonga's seedier types. And then a pΔlangi staying at the motel appears to have been murdered and his possessions taken. It's up to KulΔ« to solve all three puzzles - especially when the top brass is only interested in the theft of Mata-a-Maui.
This time KulΔ« turns to Pip, and her connections with the fakaleiti, for help with Josafina's death, while he and Detective Corporal Nusi focus on the other two cases. But, when Pip has friends among the SΔmoans, who seem to be involved in all three cases, it's impossible to keep the investigations apart - and Pip out of danger.