The fourth book in the popular Freyja & Huldar crime series
In the bleak lava fields near Reykjavik stands an execution ground. The place where the lives of convicts used to end is now a tourist attraction. Or rather it was - until the cold morning when a man was found hanging on the gallows after decades.
What at first glance looks like suicide turns out to be something much more sinister - the hanged man has a nail driven right through the middle of his chest. The police team, including Huldar, has another murder on their desk. The shadow over the whole case darkens even further when a four-year-old child is found abandoned in the murdered man's apartment.
The boy has no family ties to the dead man and his parents cannot be found. From the pictures he draws, however, it is clear that he must have witnessed something that makes even experienced criminologists' blood run cold.
While Detective Huldar goes in pursuit of the killer, child psychologist Freyja tries to track down the boy's family. And during the investigation, a story of violence, malicious manipulation and cruel revenge emerges. There are probably more people in mortal danger. Huldar and Freyja once again engage in a frantic race against time.
