This is a very good crime novel set in Norway, the authors home country. The characters and the plot are well thought out. I was surprised by a number of turns that the plot took. The main character, police detective, Harry Hole is on his last legs with the police department, his girlfriend, and humanity in general. He has been haunted since his childhood by his quilt of losing his younger sister in a bizarre elevator accident, which he was powerless to stop. Now the young female detective he had been working with on a police corruption case, has been murdered and he feels it is his fault. He tries drowning his guilt with liquor and pushing away all his acquaintances, including his girlfriend. An opportunity to redeem himself and to avenge the killing of his partner arises when he is forced to work a case with detective Waaler, whom Harry suspects of murdering his partner. The case starts when a girl is found naked, murdered in her apartment with one finger cut off. Under one eyelid a red star shaped diamond is found. This and two similar murders set in motion the twisting plot that brings the murder and Harry's problems to a denouement