A headless corpse is found floating by the shore in a remote outback town. As if this weren't mysterious enough, Detective Swan and his colleague Fran have to contend with protests against the excavation of an Indigenous site. And then another body turns up…

Mystery Road Series 1 tells the story of Detective Jay Swan, who has been assigned to investigate the mysterious disappearance of two young farmhands on an outback cattle station, one a local Indigenous football hero and the other a white backpacker. Working together with local police sergeant Emma James, the investigation uncovers drug trafficking in the town, and a past injustice that threatens the fabric of the whole community.