When Emily and Maggie arrive at Kangaroo Downs to officiate at the opening of its new race-track, they expect to find the usual friendly ambiance characteristic of all small country towns - not the Chief Steward, their very first client, seated behind an 'engaged' sign in the local diner's restroom - deader than last week's news.
Not everyone is happy about the new race-track in Kangaroo Downs. Unexplained accidents have been happening at the track. Like workmen falling off sabotaged ladders, the starting gates malfunctioning, an administrator getting electrocuted as he tested the two-way radio in the stewards' room, broken glass found scattered on the track and the caretaker's tractor up and disappearing overnight.
With a deranged murderer on the loose, all Emily and Maggie want to do is complete their assignment and hit the road again. That is - until Emily discovers her car stripped of its wheels and CANCELLED written in red paint on the windshield. Angrier than a couple of bees stuck in a vegemite jar, both Emily and Maggie are determined to unearth the identity of the saboteur.
But are the saboteur and the killer the same person? What happens when they find another dead body inside the starting-gates at the track? Will Emily and Maggie find answers to these questions before the first race on Opening Day?
Or will the two reluctant sleuths be the next casualties on the killer's Cancelled list?
