It's midsummer in Shetland, the time of the white nights, when birds sing at midnight and the sun never sets. Artist Bella Sinclair throws a party to launch an exhibition of her work, but when a mysterious Englishman bursts into tears and claims not to know who he is or where he's come from, the evening ends in farce. The following day he is found hanging from a rafter in a boathouse on the jetty and a murder investigation begins.