On a dark night on an island off the coast of Maine, a shot is heard and a fisherman disappears. Despite the absence of a body, Ella Young is accused of murder and it falls to Matt Jones, the town's lawyer, to uncover the truth that will clear the woman he's in love with However it soon becomes apparent that Ella isn't tellng him everything she knows, and as the evidence mounts against her, Matt is forced to question his belief in her innocence. A beautiful summer visitor adds further confusion when Matt finds she knew the missing man better than she admits, and that she and Ella share an impenetrable secret. What begins as a straightforward investigation is soon caught up in the rivalries of local politics and a bitter conflict between one faction that wants to change the island's traditional way of life and another, led by Ella, that values the delicate balance between man and the sea. Against this seething background comes the reappearance of valuable bluefin tuna in the gulf, along with their natural predators, a pod of orcas. As the struggling community attempts to exploit this piece of seeming good fortune, everything is set for an explosive drama.