The latest installment in the Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger Award–winning Reykjavik Murder Mystery series.

One cold autumn night, a woman is found hanging from a beam in her summer cottage. At first sight it appears to be a straightforward case of suicide; the woman, María, had never recovered from the loss of her mother two years earlier and had a history of depression. But when Karen, the friend who found her body, approaches Erlendur and gives him the tape of a séance that María had attended, his curiosity is aroused.

Driven by a need to find answers, Erlendur embarks on an unofficial investigation to find out why the woman’s life ended in such an abrupt and tragic manner. At the same time, he is haunted by the unresolved cases of two young people who went missing thirty years before, and, inevitably, his discoveries raise ghosts from his own past.

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Praise for Arnaldur Indriðason:

“This series places Indriðason at the center of the best of contemporary crime fiction. He is a master storyteller, and has a real gift for evoking complex humanity.”
— The Guardian

“Inspector Erlendur is one of the most compassionate detectives to come this way in a long time.”
— The New York Times

“Superb. . . . Indriðason has a real gift for building plots.”
— The Globe and Mail

“Arnaldur is a master of atmosphere.”
— The Vancouver Sun

“One of those crime writers who rises above genre, combining suspense with moving insights into the human condition.”
— Sunday Times

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Arnaldur Indridason worked for many years as a journalist and critic before he began writing novels. Outside Iceland, he is best known for his crime novels featuring Erlendur and Sigurdur Óli, which are consistent bestsellers across Europe. The series has won numerous awards, including the Nordic Glass Key and the CWA Gold Dagger. Over 5,000,000 copies of his books have been sold worldwide.

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