Two extremely violent murders shake the small community of Fjällbacka once again. There doesn't seem to be any connection between the two crimes. The first victim is a famous photographer found dead on the eve of his new exhibition's opening.

The next victims are the son and grandchildren of this year's Nobel Prize in Literature winner, found shot in their bed. The investigation by Patrick Hedstrom and his colleagues at the Tanumshede police department reaches a dead end, while Erica Falk investigates a tragic murder in Stockholm in 1980.

Soon he realizes that the sins of the past have left a heavy mark on the present.