The first thriller in a new series featuring Inspector Kari Vaara, the haunted, hardened detective who must delve into Finland's dark, violent underbelly. Just before Christmas, the bleakest time of the year in Lapland. The unrelenting darkness and extreme cold above the Arctic circle drive everyone just a little insane, perhaps enough to kill. With his American wife struggling to adjust to life in the cold while carrying their twins, Kari, is thrown headlong into a nightmare when the gruesome murder of a beautiful Somali actress exposes the racism at the heart of Finnish society.