Soon after Anzan's arrival in Kabul he is embroiled in a surreal episode that involves the murder of a friend and fellow inmate of a guest house. There are three possible suspects in the killing of the American army officer. As he travels north and south of the country investigating, he begins to doubt if he will ever discover who killed his friend, when he stumbles upon a horrifying possibility that chills him to the bone. It is at the feet of the fallen Buddhas that he has to seek within himself the answer to how much he should reveal to the authorities. A murder mystery, An Afghan Winter is at the same time a window into present day Afghanistan. This is a thinking man's thriller with powerful themes running through it.