David Maratse is settling into early retirement in the remote Arctic settlement of Inussuk, when an expedition yacht is discovered at the edge of the sea ice. Patches of blood have frozen to the decks. Three of the crew in the cabin are unconscious but alive, the rest are dead or missing. Frustrated by the sluggish course of the investigation, the yacht's owner hires Maratse to help speed things up and to recover a lost journal...