As a police team is called in to investigate a woman’s suicide at the Holmsheidi prison outside Reykjavik, to detective Gudgeir Fransson it looks like a tragic but straightforward case. It’s only afterwards that the pieces begin to fall into place and he takes a deeper interest in Kristin Kjarr’s troubled background, and why she had found herself in prison. His search leads him to a series of brutal crimes committed twenty years before and the unexplained disappearance of the prime suspect, whose wealthy family closed ranks as every effort was made to keep skeletons securely hidden in closets - while the Reykjavik police struggle to deal with a spate of fresh attacks that bear all the hallmarks of a copycat.

A sinister story of fear and isolation told with imaginative flair. Mesmerising. - Michael Ridpath