As a police team is called in to investigate a woman's suicide at the Holmsheiði prison outside Reykjavik, to detective Guðgeir Fransson it looks like a tragic but straightforward case.

It's only afterwards that the pieces begin to fall into place and he takes a deeper interest in Kristin Kjarr's troubled background, and why she had found herself in prison.

His search leads him to a series of brutal crimes committed 20 years before and the unexplained disappearance of the prime suspect, whose wealthy family closed ranks as every effort was made to keep skeletons securely hidden in closets - while the Reykjavik police struggle to deal with a spate of fresh attacks that bear all the hallmarks of a copycat.

Glass Key Award-nominated Icelandic author Solveig Pálsdottir is an exciting new voice in Nordic crime fiction.