When the 1920s' most glamorous detective, the Honourable Phryne Fisher, arranges to go to Ballarat for the week, she eschews the excitement of her red Hispano-Suiza racing car for the sedate journey by train. But as the passengers sleep they are poisoned by chloroform gas. Phryne is left to piece together the clues: an old woman's bruised and battered body; a young girl who has lost her memory; and rumours of white slavery. Then there is the rowing team of delicious young men, who at first seem to be no more than a pleasant diversion...