The Doom Bar, a treacherous sandbank in the Camel estuary, in North Cornwall, has many watchers - with many motives. For analyst George Gilbert, seeking peace after the sudden death of her husband, modelling the shifting Doom Bar is a therapeutic challenge. But not far away, revellers at a stag party are left with a more immediate challenge of their own. And local policeman Peter Travers is left struggling to solve a murder with no clue as to the victim's identity. One which seems to be simultaneously spontaneous and pre-planned.