The silent, snow-covered streets of Oslo are a perfect scene of Christmas tranquility. But over the tolling of bells for the last Sunday of Advent, a black notes sounds. A boy's body washes up near the city's Aker Bridge. His corpse is bloated by the water, almost unrecognisable. Nobody has even bothered to report him missing.
The discovery of Katrine's corpse the following day brings police officers Gunnarstranda and Frolich onto the case and into a world of secrets and lies that stretches back generations. In a world of secrets can the Oslo Detectives find out the truth about these grisly murders in time before the killer strikes again...?
In spring 2002 award-winning journalist Asne Seierstad spent four months living with the bookseller and his family. As Seierstad steps back from the page and lets the Khans tell their stories, we learn of proposals and marriages, hope and fear, crime and punishment. The result is a unique portrait of a family and a country.