'This town could use an elaborate murder, something more exciting than drunken fights or moonshine busts.' As Hart recalled this comment the moment Gunhild Öst announced her discovery, he feared his wish had been woefully granted.Spring, 1983. The winter frost is melting, and the swelling Black River threatens the rural town of Silvernäs. It's a damp, grey morning when Erland Hart, the town's lone police officer, is called out to Ramses Farm. Vanja Johansson has been discovered in the barn attic, her body hanging from the beams.When a severed hand is found stuck to a fencepost - its fingers curled into a macabre wave - Hart is pulled into an investigation that stretches beyond one woman's death. Stockholm detectives Markovic and Ljung believe this is the work of a serial killer. Vanja's sister is certain it was suicide. And the town are growing increasingly suspicious of the teenage boys carving Satanic symbols across Silvernäs. Can Hart keep this quiet community from shattering? And as the floodwater rises, what secrets will it bring to the surface?