Detective H. Grímsson is intelligent, hard as nails, and very resourceful. But he is also his own worst enemy. After an unfortunate shooting incident in Iceland's largest shopping mall on Christmas Eve, he is demoted to a police deputy in a small rural village in eastern Iceland. Grímsson's plan is to kick back, drink some beer, and enjoy this time away from home.

When two young female hitchhikers disappear, Grímsson fears that the girls are lost in the highlands or have drowned in the glacial river. But then one of the girls wanders naked into the village and dies in Grimsson's arms. The girl has ligature marks on her arms and legs, and her ears have been cut. She was probably kept somewhere against her will and possibly tortured. Grímsson organizes a massive search for the second missing girl. Is one of the villagers responsible for the girl's disappearance? The perpetrator could easily be a member of the rescue team looking for the missing girl.

When Grímsson finds out that foreign girls have disappeared in the area before, he realizes that he might be dealing with a devious serial killer—a real monster who hides behind an innocent façade. Evil is at large.

Contains mature themes.