When a body was washed up on the beach of a rural Icelandic fishing village the powers-that-be were rather keen that the death should be written off as an accident. After all, falling into the water when you've had far too much to drink is not unusual. Hvalvick's police sargeant, Gunnhildur, isn't convinced though. The 'drinking too much' was done in the bars of Reykjavik, some hundred kilometres away. If the man was too drunk to walk he was certainly in no position to drive a car – so who brought him to his death – and why?