Freshwater is Tom Kristensen’s third thriller set in the world of high finance. The principal character, John Andersen, is a partner in the investment company of Flemming & Co., which has recently sold the Freshwater business house to a British group. Andersen is looking for something more rewarding than a humdrum working life and a dull marriage. On a trip to Washington he meets Maria; twenty years his junior, she holds out the promise of a different and happier life.

The British buyers soon discover that Freshwater is rotten to the core, built as it is on nothing but corruption and foreign aid conspiracies. When they try to get in touch with Flemming & Co., it is only to find that those responsible have cut and run; and the Norwegian Minister of Trade and Industry commits suicide.

John Andersen’s dream of a new life turns into a nightmare flight from threats, suspicion of murder and fear that the dreadful secret he harbours will be exposed.