In the first instalment of the Hanne Wilhelmsen series, Anne Holt delivers a superbly chilling story of corruption in the corridors of power.

'Anne Holt is the Godmother of modern Norwegian crime fiction' Jo Nesbo

A drug dealer is battered to death in the outskirts of Oslo. A young Dutch student, covered in blood, walks aimlessly through the streets of central Oslo. He is taken into custody, but refuses to speak.

Five days later a shady criminal lawyer called Hans Olsen is murdered. The two deaths don't seem related, but Detective Inspector Hanne Wilhelmsen is unconvinced. Soon, she uncovers a link between the bodies: Olsen defended the drug dealer.

But there are powerful forces working against Hanne; a conspiracy that reaches far beyond a crooked lawyer and a small-time dealer. The investigation will take her into the offices of the most powerful men in Norway — and even put her own life at risk…