Part of Department Q, book 7
First published 2017
Detective Carl Mørck discovers an elderly woman's body in a Copenhagen park. The murder mirrors an unsolved case from over a decade earlier, but police cannot connect the two victims. Meanwhile, someone hunts young women across the city in what appear to be random attacks. Carl leads Department Q's investigation under intense pressure from superiors who will shut down the cold case division if results don't come quickly. The case becomes personal when team member Rose suffers a breakdown as her traumatic childhood resurfaces. Rose may have witnessed or been involved in a terrible crime years ago. Carl works with Assad and Gordon to solve both the current murders and uncover the violent truth buried in Rose's past. The team races against time to protect Rose while saving Department Q from elimination. The investigation forces them to confront how childhood trauma shapes adult lives and whether some secrets should stay buried.
Genres: mystery, crime, detective, psychological-thriller
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: found-family, personal-investigation
Setting: Copenhagen, Denmark
Period: 21st-century
472 pages · Hardcover · Dutton
Content warnings: child-abuse, mental-illness, violence