Cliff Hardy has his licence back - but does he still have what it takes to cut it as a PI on the streets of Sydney? Cliff reckons the skills are still there, if a little rusty, and actor Bobby Forrest's case looks promising. As well as a complex client who may not be all he seems, the players include his compelling lover, a rejected, threatening woman and various media power brokers. When Bobby is killed Hardy becomes the client of his father, a man with a shady past and his own problems with the law. A range of suspects and motives test Hardy's powers, as his investigations take him through inner Sydney, the city's west, the central coast and the Wollondilly Plains. He encounters prostitutes, corporate movers and shakers, cops, and a would-be golf guru. A media magnate's kick-boxing assistant poses a threat and only Hardy's experience, resilience, and persistence bring him to a shock understanding of what it has all been about.