Manukau Bluebirds

In furtherance of some nebulous dream of a better life on the other side of the world, Hugh Button, former Detective Inspector with the Metropolitan Police, is starting again as a patrol constable in Auckland, New Zealand.

It seemed like a good idea at the time. But now he is here alone, with no family, no stuff, a wooden shack in the middle of nowhere and what amounts to constructive demotion or possibly career suicide.

Two months in, Hugh still has no stuff and no family, but hes learning to live with it. The 2011 Rugby World Cup and the ensuing chaos on New Zealand's streets is going full steam ahead, his beloved family are due to arrive in just one more month, and with the fractious bonds he has made with his colleagues on Section Three, life is maybe a little less surreal than when he touched down.

But only a little. Relearning the art of patrol work, Hugh and the rest of Section Three respond to a spectrum of calls that...