November, 1930. One sunny Saturday afternoon, 12-year-old Mena Griffiths was playing in the park w hen she w as lured away by an unknown man. Hours later, her strangled body w as found, mouth gagged and hands crossed over her chest, in an abandoned house. Only months later, another girl was murdered; the similarities between the cases undeniable. Crime in Melbourne had taken a shocking new turn: this was the work of a serial killer, a homicidal maniac.

Despite their best efforts, police had no experience dealing with this kind of criminal. W hat followed was years of bungled investigations, falsely accused men - and the tragic deaths of two more girls - before the murderer was finally caught and brought to justice.

With all the pace of a thriller, Katherine Kovacic recounts this extraordinary, chilling true story - of failed police enquiries, a killer with a Jekyll and Hyde personality, and the families shattered when four innocent lives were cruelly taken.