The Torso

A torso has been found on the beach of Goteborg.  It has yet to be determined whether it is the torso of a male or a female.  Superintendent Sven Andersson, DI Irene Huss, and Jonny Blom start the investigation by trying to determine how the torso in its sack got where it did before assigning the rest of the team tasks.

A little later, two more bags are discovered further along the coast with more body parts in them.  Pathology has determined that the body is male.  A tattoo on the shoulder could possibly help to identify him.

Information is received from Copenhagen about possible similarities to another murder there.  Huss is sent there.  It isn't the police that provide her with a name, but rather a sumo wrestler.  He also tells her that there is a possible connection between a doctor in Goteborg and a policeman in Copenhagen.  Huss had been asked by a friend to locate her missing daughter in Copenhagen, but after beginning her search, the girl disappears.  Was her disappearance in any way connected to Huss' investigation?

Shortly after her return to Goteborg, Huss is informed that the girl has been found; murdered in a similar manner to the other two, but not dismembered.  She must return to Copenhagen.  It is a day after arriving in Copenhagen that Huss and the police superintendent find the body of the superintendent's son brutally murdered.

After her return to Goteborg, Huss is informed that her quiet source has been attacked, and the Danish police are very upset with her.  The murderer strikes again, and even tries to get at Huss unsuccessfully.  Unfortunately he is not captured.

Author Helene Tursten creates an amazingly complex and tense murder mystery.  An excellent read.