"In Oslo, after the first snow of the season has fallen, a woman disappears, and a sinister snowman is left in her wake. As irascible detective Harry Hole realizes that this is only one of multiple disappearances, he begins to think a serial killer may be at work--and may be drawing in Hole personally and intentionally"--

Oslo, 1970s. Olav, an extremely talented "fixer" whose unexpected capacity for love is as far-reaching as his talent for murder, works for Oslo's crime kingpin, "fixing" anyone who causes him trouble. But it's becoming clear to Olav that the more you know about your boss's business, the more your boss might want you fixed yourself, especially if you've fallen in love with his wife.

The horrifically disfigured corpse of an Oslo police officer is found at the scene of a homicide whose trail went cold years before. The butchered officer was involved in the first investigation. It is the anniversary of the death. Within months, two more officers are killed the same way: at the scenes of the unsolved murders they investigated. The newest slayings are especially brutal. The media reaction is frenzied. The police are beginning to believe...

Determined to prove the innocence of a young man he helped raise, disgraced former cop Harry Hole embarks on an increasingly dangerous investigation linked to Oslo's most virulent street drug.

On his first day of school, a teacher welcomes Audun to the class by asking him to describe his former life in the country. But there are stories about his family he would prefer to keep to himself, such as the weeks he spent living in a couple of cardboard boxes, and the day of his little brother's birth, when his drunken father fired three shots into the ceiling. So he refuses to talk and refuses to take off his sunglasses. In his late teens Audun...

Investigating the Christmas-season murders of four people in the luxurious home of one of Oslo's wealthiest families, Norwegian Police Chief Inspector Hanne Wilhelmsen risks everything to identify a mysterious victim and his reason for being among the others.

"Two young women are missing, their only connection a party they both attended, hosted by a notorious real-estate magnate. When one of the women is found murdered, the police discover an unusual signature left by the killer, giving them reason to suspect he will strike again. And exposing him calls for a detective like no other. But the legendary Harry Hole is gone--fired from the force, drinking himself to oblivion in Los Angeles. It seems that nothing...

"Christmas shoppers stop to hear a Salvation Army concert on a crowded Oslo street. A gunshot cuts through the music and the bitter cold: one of the singers falls dead, shot in the head at point-blank range. Harry Hole--the Oslo Police Department's best investigator and worst civil servant--has little to work with: no suspect, no weapon, and no motive. But Harry's troubles will multiply. As the search closes in, the killer becomes increasingly desperate,...

In the cold of an Oslo winter, celebrities have been turning up dead in the most macabre of positions. Their killer may be seeking retribution, but for what?

"In the heat of a sweltering Oslo summer, a young woman is found murdered in her flat--with one of her fingers cut off and a tiny red star-shaped diamond placed under her eyelid. An off-the-rails alcoholic barely holding on to his job, Detective Harry Hole is assigned the case with Tom Waaler, a hated colleague who Harry believes is responsible for the murder of his partner. When another woman is reported missing five days later, and her severed finger...