The smallest secret can shatter a life.

For the legendary glass artist Justus Hartman, the fire of the furnace was never just about craft-it was about a mystical obsession with alchemy that demanded absolute secrecy. For decades, he kept his apprentices in a tight, sect-like circle, guarding a truth that transcended wealth. But the pursuit of the 'Great Work' always has a price.

The peace of Gotland is cracked when Justus is abducted from his hospital bed in a stolen van. For his nephew, Police Commissioner Tomas Hartman, the case is a descent into a past he tried to bury. Returning to his uncle's glassworks, Tomas is confronted by the ghost of a lost love and a crushing guilt that threatens to dismantle his marriage and his sanity.

As Detective Inspector Maria Wern joins the hunt, the trail shifts from the limestone cliffs of the island to the mainland's luxury glass hotels. The discovery of a body displayed in a custom-crafted glass coffin confirms a terrifying reality: they are hunting a fanatic who is using human lives to complete a ritual centuries in the making.

In this spellbinding twelfth installment of the Maria Wern series, international bestseller Anna Jansson delivers a high-stakes race against time. Maria must follow her intuition into the heart of a killer's psychosis, even as she navigates the rigid friction of new command. With the investigation stalled by bureaucracy, Maria is the only one who can see the pattern before the alchemist reaches his final, deadly stage of transformation.

'Incredibly exciting' - Tidningen Kulturen Sweden