Arriving in Carteret County to fill in for a sick colleague, Judge Deborah Knott finds herself in the thick of battles between sport and commercial fishermen and between old and new money. It is Deborah's bad fortune to discover the body of Andy Bynum, a retired waterman respected by all sides. With no obvious suspects in the murder, Deborah must find the killer in a place where people shoot at loons, sea turtles, and their neighbors.
