In the sleepy town of Brokenwood, New Zealand, the affable residents may seem harmless, but killers, blackmailers, and thieves lurk in every picturesque corner. To quell the community's alarming murder rate, Detective Mike Shepherd uses an unconventional style that contrasts with the methodical approach of his partner, Detective Kristin Sims, and the eager assistance of DC Sam Breen. In Series 6, Shepherd and his team face a deadly explosion at a steampunk festival, a bestselling crime author killed in the same manner as a murder in his book, the shooting of an animal rights activist protesting a duck hunt, and a suspicious suicide inside the local women's prison that pits them against convicts they've put away in the past.