Newly graduated from a Dublin university, Cary McGurk has revived the Glenkerry Gazette, a small weekly newspaper founded by his father nearly thirty years ago. But Patrick McGurk is gone; he died suddenly just days before Cary's graduation. Reeling from the loss, Cary decides that re-opening the newspaper would be a fitting tribute to his father as well as an exciting opportunity for an aspiring young journalist like himself. But a month later the young publisher struggles to attract readers and advertisers and pay the bills. "If only there was one big story, one riveting piece of news that everyone in Glenkerry will want to read" he tells himself, even as a small voice within issues a warning: "Be careful what you wish for!"

Early on a calm September morning, Cary sets off on a run at Travelhawk Beach at the foot of the Black Castle in Wicklow town. There he makes a startling, unsettling discovery–the body of a man, wrapped in seaweed, awash on the beach at the foot of the ancient ruins. But who is this man? What brought him to this normally peaceful place? And how did he die? The gardaí investigate, but progress is slow. Meanwhile Cary and his friend Rosie O'Malley do some sleuthing of their own, uncovering a web of intrigue that stretches back a decade and half and a world away. Most alarming of all, the story it seems is not over, threatening to shatter the peace and tranquility of Glenkerry.