Summary

In the final days of summer, a young woman is shot dead in her apartment. Three floors above, the blue lights of the police cars awaken disgraced ex-officer Leo Junker. Though suspended from the force, he can’t stay away for long. Bluffing his way onto the crime scene, he examines the dead woman and sees that she is clasping a cheap necklace—a necklace he instantly recognises.

As Leo sets out on a rogue investigation to catch the killer, a series of frightening connections emerge, linking the murder to his own troubled youth in Salem—a suburb of Stockholm where social and racial tensions run high—and forcing him to confront a long ago incident that changed his life forever.

Now, in backstreets, shadowed alleyways, and decaying suburbs ruled by Stockholm’s criminal underground, the search for the young woman’s killer—and the truth about Leo’s past—begins.

Excerpt

Click here to read an excerpt from the book.

Reviews

‘This unique Nordic thriller of enthralling suspense takes a sickening dive into the murky corners of Stockholm and its suburbs ... a new and inspiring example.’—Le Figaro Magazine

'Carlsson renders a good plot with commanding writing. His moody portrayals of yesterday’s Salem and today’s Stockholm are convincing. Without trying to compare him to the Mankell/Larsson generation, I think he’s worth the Swedish accolades that are heaped on him.'
—THE TIMES 'BOOK OF THE MONTH'

'If you want chills in the middle of summer, you've found the right book.'
—ELLE

‘Christoffer Carlsson will lead you exactly where he wants you to go: into the maze of madness. Such narrative skill! Such control! Such a pleasure!’
—IMPUDIQUE MAGAZINE

'A wonderfully well written novel, with a prose style that seeks to update noir.'
—THE SPECTATOR

‘An extremely powerful, evocative thriller that reverberates far.’
—HANNOVER’S ONLINE MAGAZINE

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