The Absent One

by Jussi Adler-Olsen

Part of Department Q, book 2

First published 2012

Carl Mørck runs Department Q in Copenhagen, where cold cases gather dust. A brutal double murder from two decades past arrives on his desk. A brother and sister died violently at their boarding school. The case seemed closed when one of the privileged student suspects confessed and went to prison. Mørck digs deeper anyway. The files reveal gaps and contradictions. His investigation leads him to Kimmie, a homeless woman who survives by theft and stays hidden from police. She knows how to disappear into the streets. But now others hunt her too. Kimmie carries secrets that powerful people will murder to protect. She also holds one truth that could destroy everything they believe about the original crime. Mørck must find her before her enemies do, but Kimmie has spent years perfecting the art of staying invisible.

Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective

Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful

Tropes: investigation, missing-person

Setting: Copenhagen, Denmark

Period: 20th-century

406 pages · Hardcover · Dutton Books

Content warnings: violence

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