Fred Hope was a nice guy at one time, running an eco-hotel in Devon, a scrapyard on Humberside and a charter boat Then his whalewatching activities landed him in jail for manslaughter When he gets out he opts for a quiet life but he is just one of those people who gathers trouble to them His wife's brother Hugo needs to be watched, for he has distasteful habits and friends to match This time he has disappeared to Norway in Fred's charter boat with some very unpleasant Americans who want an old-fashioned whalehunt