First published 2013
Detective Carl Mørck has enough problems without taking on another cold case. The disappearance of Rita, a brothel owner who vanished in the 1980s, seems routine until his assistants Assad and Rose discover that several other people disappeared the same weekend. The investigation leads them toward Curt Wad, a surgeon with a sinister history. In 1987, Nete Hermansen had plotted her revenge against those who wronged her decades earlier, including Wad himself. During the 1950s, Wad participated in Denmark's forced sterilization program, targeting girls deemed undesirable by society. As Carl digs deeper into the connected disappearances, he uncovers how Nete's quest for vengeance intersected with multiple victims. The case forces Carl to confront not only Denmark's shameful past but also the personal trauma that landed him in Department Q. The investigation reveals that Wad's cruelty toward Nete represents just a fraction of his true evil.
Genres: historical-fiction, mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: cold-case, found-family, personal-trauma
Setting: Denmark
Period: 1950s, 1980s, 1987
500 pages · Hardcover · Dutton
Content warnings: abuse, medical-trauma, racism