On March 25, 1996, the publicist Jan Philipp Reemtsma is kidnapped. His son Johann and his wife Ann Kathrin witness how their home is transformed overnight into a police control center. Two police officers, the family’s lawyer and a close friend form a community of fate, united by their common goal of bringing Johann’s father home as quickly and unharmed as possible.
Detective Chief Inspector Sörensen is anxious. More precisely, he suffers from a chronic anxiety disorder that makes life difficult for him. That is why he is moving from Hamburg to the Frisian village of Katenbüll, where he hopes for a more peaceful working life. But that is not how the cookie crumbles. The place is grey and bleak, it rains continuously, and the locals are not very enthusiastic in welcoming him. He also finds his new colleagues, Jenni Holstenbeck and Malte Schuster, somewhat suspect. And then things go from bad to worse. Mayor Hinrichs is found dead in his stables. Sörensen quickly realises that there is a lot of bad blood hidden behind the small town's tranquil facade and some well-founded reasons for anxiety...
