The novel begins like a crime story and evolves into a character-rich social drama. The main character is the young country pastor Ralf Henrichsen, who is called to the scene of an accident one night. A car has veered off the road and plunged into a lake. The driver has managed to save himself, but his wife and son are recovered lifeless. How this happened remains unclear. In the aftermath of the events, Henrichsen finds himself in an expanding crisis of meaning.