In 1820, young Irish lad Peter Lynch signed on to an English fishing vessel which was to ply the codfish—rich waters off the coast of Newfoundland. His dreams were soon dashed when the reality of mistreatment and hardship became the norm for him. Before the schooner was to return in the fall, Peter decided to take his chances by jumping ship and running inland. His escape was burdened with injury, after which he was taken in by the native Beothuk tribe. This turn of fate found him taking a wife and having a child. For two years, conflict intensified, which resulted in the murder of his wife and some of his native friends. Revenge was swift and bloody. The English captain and four of his men were slaughtered.
One hundred and eighty years later, Inspector Bob Lynch of the Irish Police Force An Garda Síochána decided to emigrate to Newfoundland, Canada, and join the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary. He was always aware of his great—great—uncle Peter Lynch, who had at one time lived in Newfoundland. His ancestor had written a vivid memoir, and it is this memoir that comes to mind when, ten years to the day he had emigrated, Constable Lynch is assigned to an unusual homicide that found a victim killed by an arrow to the neck. The arrowhead is made of a stone that was used by the native people of Newfoundland and Labrador. As the investigation proceeds, a common thread becomes apparent. Murders in Brazil, North Dakota, and British Columbia involve the ancient Ramah stone from northern Labrador.
How could that be? Has revenge found a home in Newfoundland 180 years later?