IN THE WAKE of the presumed suicide of his colleague Hugo Elvin, Fabian Risk discovers a set of notes in his desk at the Helsingborg Police Headquarters. The notes suggest that their colleague, forensic scientist Ingvar Molander, not only murdered Elvin, but is also behind several other recent murders. Fabian secretly starts to investigate whether there is any truth to Elvin’s suspicions, and just as he unearths definitive proof of Molander’s guilt, he also realizes Molander is on to him.
At the same time, a string of seemingly unconnected murders of the most brutal kind are committed in Helsingborg and neighbouring towns. Several complex investigations eventually lead to the arrest of two perpetrators. But something’s not right and Fabian can’t shake the feeling they’ve missed something pivotal.
Fabian’s daughter, Matilda, has recovered from the gunshot wound she received a month and a half earlier, when the killer whom Fabian was trying to catch had forced an entry to the family home. But the trauma has had a profound effect on her and Fabian struggles to recognize his own daughter in the girl who comes home from the hospital. His relationship with his wife, Sonja, is better than it has been in a long time, but she is still holding back about what happened when her lover turned out not to be who she thought he was.
Fabian’s son, Theodor, has felt tormented since he witnessed a brutal murder in Helsingør, committed by a group of his girlfriend’s friends. They have been remanded in custody and are awaiting trial in Denmark. The guilt drives Theodor to attempt to take his own life, but Fabian intervenes at the last moment. The end result is that Theodor decides to do the right thing and agrees to testify in court.
Meanwhile, a ruthless killer with no discernible motive is rolling dice to decide who his next victim is going to be, and how that victim is going to die.