Jack Irish is a man getting his life back together again. A former criminal lawyer whose world imploded, he now spends his days as a part-time investigator, debt collector, apprentice cabinet maker, punter and sometime lover - the complete man really. Jack is an expert in finding those who don't want to be found - dead or alive. He helps out his mates while avoiding the past. That is until the past finds him.

Jack Irish has no shortage of friends, but family members are few and far between. His wife was murdered by an ex-client and his father is a fading photo on the pubs football wall of fame. So when Des Connors, the last link to his dad, calls to ask for help in the matter of a missing son, Jack is more than happy to lend a hand. But sometimes prodigal sons go missing for a reason... As Jack begins to dig, he discovers that Gary Connors was a man with something to hide, and his friends are people with yet darker and even more deadly secrets.

Jack Irish is thrown into a world of club owners, drug dealers and killers when he is hired by a judge to find a mysterious red book.