Alex Archer returns from the Olympics in triumph, only to face new obstacles. Should she accept the offer of an American swimming scholarship? Should she continue swimming? Will she even get into university? But in particular, will she ever meet the mysterious Tom again? Rome seems a long way away as Alex begins to confront the realities of adulthood.

Winter is over and Alex Archer is in Rome - the only swimmer in the New Zealand Olympic team. She will have to stand on the starting blocks in front of twenty thousand people for the race she has dreamed of for years. But Rome is full of distractions - the games, the city itself, and a mysterious young man, who seems to be one step ahead of Alex. As the Olympic gun fires, Alex knows she must aim for the unbelievable.

The crime took place at the height of World War II on the New Zealand coast, where someone had plainly been helping the Germans sink British ships. The murderer had lured his victim into a pool of boiling mud at a run-down spa. The victim was suspected by many of being a German agent. But he was so unpleasant that he could have been killed for many reasons. Among those who could have done it were several dubious Englishmen and a whole village of Maoris, none of whom were sorry that the victim was dead

The setting is idyllic.....a luxury island mansion in an unspoilt New Zealand wilderness. The party-goers are glamorous....they include a world-famous opera soprano, her millionaire 'companion', the artistic elite of three continents - and the distinguished detective, Alleyn of The Yard.