Christmas is the cruellest of the holidays, especially for Jakob Johanson, who finds himself embroiled in a complex case that hits close to home.

It’s the darkest time of the year in the village of Ísafjörður. As Christmas approaches, the peace of the villagers is shattered. On the western flanks, a corpse is found in a fish farming pond. Detective Hildur Rúnarsdóttir and Finnish police trainee Jakob Johanson have barely time to start their investigation before another equally bizarre homicide takes place in another remote corner of Iceland. And soon a third. While investigating a series of brutal acts of violence, Hildur escapes to surf the choppy waves of the Atlantic but the lost connection to her middle sister, Rósa weighs heavy on her mind. Meanwhile, her police partner Jakob prepares for the hearing of his fraught custody battle with his ex-wife Lena. But to what lengths is Jakob prepared to go? That’s what Hildur is left to ponder when she receives the worst possible call from Finland’s Kolari police station. At what point do even the best of intentions no longer justify the means? Jakob is the third volume in the Hildur series hailed by some as ‘Nordic Blue’ genre.