Travel writer Carmel McAlistair is the newest resident in St. Jude Without, a small community on the coast of Newfoundland. She meets her neighbors, visits the local bar (which occupies an abandoned church), and is quickly smitten by a local fisherman. Unfortunately, Carmel’s new home is soon under siege by the local press, when the local premier’s brother is found dead on a beach. And, it soon becomes clear that his death is not an accident when the police investigator reveals that the victim’s throat was sliced by a type of knife used by fishermen known as a 'cut-throat.' Other signs point to the killer being a local, and Carmel immediately begins to rethink the residents she has so recently encountered––now as potential murderers. No one liked the victim as he was trying to sell the land that they all considered sacred. But which one actually wielded the 'cut-throat' knife? Carmel is determined to find out, and her efforts may just lead her into more danger than she could imagine.