Inspector Dupin and Claire are on a two-week vacation, with fabulous dinners on the hotel patio and the rumors about a stolen statue of a saint among the few interesting moments of these lazy days. But in this sixth outing (after The Killing Tide), a tourist vanishes and there's an attack on an assemblyman who is involved in confrontations with local farmers. Shortly after that, this idyllic Britanny beach resort is shocked by the discovery of a corpse, and Dupin clandestinely begins to investigate with the help of the local villagers, something he must keep a secret even from Claire and his colleagues in Concarneau.