It’s early May when a young family out on a forest walk stumble upon a heavily mutilated body. The female corpse is in an eerily good condition and the traces of torture are all too visible.
Inspector Malin Fors immediately draws parallels to the Maria Murvall case: the young woman who was found raped and brutally beaten in the forest several years ago and who has since been lost in a silent trauma at a psychiatric clinic. By coincidence Malin meets a psychologist from St Lars Hospital in Lund who tells her about a similar case, and suddenly Maria appears to be just a small part of a bigger puzzle. But what is it that is so terrible that it can’t be put into words?
Malin, who has long been obsessed with finding out the truth behind Maria's horrific past, is determined to get to the bottom of the case, no matter where it may take her.
It is the hottest summer anyone can recall and Linköping is plagued by a sweltering heatwave and raging forest fires.
A teenage girl is found naked and bleeding in a city park, without any recollection of what has happened. A grisly discovery is made...
In the first part, The Devil’s Scent, Malin Fors has left Linköping for the swarming metropolis of Bangkok. A city full of scents, colours, sounds and tastes. But also corruption, violence and death.
Malin is on the run....
When Malin Fors arrives at the scene, the boy’s mother is sitting under a tree clinging to her limp child. Her desperate screams have faded into a shallow wail.
The police investigation is wrapped up quickly as the circumstances...