Sweden's national bestseller from a recognized master of the Scandinavian detective.One of the best novels of 2021 according to the Swedish Academy of Crime Writers.Gothenburg, 1925. The corpse of a well-dressed man is fished out of the muddy waters of the Seveon River. A thin but deep bloody wound, gaping under a silk scarf around his neck, leaves no doubt: the man was strangled. Strangled in a very cruel and exotic way - a garrotte, a Spanish execution tool that squeezes the neck with a thin iron string ...Several years ago, a whole series of similar murders already occurred in Sweden. Then the criminal was seized, declared insane, and now he is the only prisoner on a remote island called the Plague. By the way, on the very island where the strangled man was born and grew up... Recently, the famous Swedish writer described exactly the same murder in detail in his novel. And he, too, is mentally ill and is under round-the-clock surveillance ... on the Plague Island. Is an imprisoned criminal and a fashion writer the same person? Senior Police Constable Nils Gunnarsson sails to the island - and finds the insane prisoner where he is supposed to be: in an isolated cell under seven locks ..."Hermanson is simply incredible at working with facts and details." –“She is a very good storyteller.” –“This novel brings back to life times, places and people that have long since sunk into the past – and yet are completely understandable and close to us.” –“This is pure drive.” –