SHORTLISTED FOR THE NED KELLEY AWARD FOR BEST TRUE CRIME

How the New South Wales Police Force's finest solved murders in one of the most tumultuous periods in Australian history.

As Australia sank into the darkest days of the Great Depression, a succession of bloody mysteries grabbed headlines and gripped the country. The Hammer Horror, The Bungendore Bones, The Park Demon, The Human Glove and The Pyjama Girl – these were just some of the grisly cases that had to be solved by the Sydney detectives of The Murder Squad.

With the people, press and politicians screaming for justice and vengeance, homicide chief Tom McRae and his colleagues used bold new investigative tools in the massive manhunts for these maniacal killers. Working under intense pressure, hard-nosed and hard-charging cops solved some cases brilliantly – yet others were 'closed' with dodgy convictions while several shadowy figures were to get away with murder.

Set against the backdrop of our greatest economic crisis, as the federal and state governments headed for a showdown and fascist and communist thugs threatened civil war, The Murder Squad reopens the files on Australia's most chilling forgotten crimes to ask who was guilty, who was innocent, and whether some cops were as dangerous as the monsters they were hunting.