After successfullyโbut bloodilyโdismantling a complicated hostage situation at a bank in the suburbs of Stockholm, Detective Paul Hjelm is faced with the requisite investigation by Internal Affairs. It is a potentially career-ending inquiry, but he is plucked out of it by the National Criminal Police commissioner, who drops him into an elite task force of officers assembled from across the country to find an elusive killer with a sophisticated modus operandi and even more sophisticated tastes.
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Targeting Swedenโs high-profile business leaders, the killer breaks into their homes at night, waits for his victims, places two bullets in their heads with deadly precision, and removes the bullets from the wallsโa ritual enacted to a rare bootleg recording of Thelonious Monkโs jazz classic โMisterioso.โ
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As Hjelm, his young, doggedly energetic partner, Jorge Chavez, and the rest of the team follow one lead after another in their pursuitโnavigating the murky underworlds of the Russian Mafia and the secretive members-only society of Swedenโs wealthiest denizensโthey must also delve into one of the countryโs most persistent ills: a deep-rooted xenophobia that affects both the police and the perpetrator in a small nation that is becoming rapidly internationalized.
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The first novel in Arne Dahlโs gripping Intercrime seriesโwidely considered to be one of Swedenโs bestโMisterioso is a penetrating, dark, and absorbing introduction to this acclaimed authorโs world.