How far would you go to save your child?

On a secluded Gotland beach, a middle-aged couple watches a stranger pitch a tent. Day after day, he returns-always with a different woman at his side. The neighbors watch from their window with a mounting, sickening suspicion: Are these women guests, or are they prisoners?

The mystery takes a frantic turn for Detective Inspector Maria Wern when Cecilia, a woman suffering from a terminal heart condition, vanishes. Without her life-saving medication, Cecilia has mere days to live. As the list of suspects grows, Maria realizes she isn't just looking for a kidnapper-she's racing against a biological clock that is rapidly running out of time.

But the investigation hits a devastating personal note within the precinct. Detective Per Arvidsson's six-year-old daughter, Wilma, is dying, and her only hope is a heart transplant that may never come. While Arvidsson struggles to stay professional, his ex-wife is beginning to explore a darker path-a world of illegal solutions where a life can be bought, if you're willing to pay the ultimate price.

As the threads of the missing woman and the dying child collide, Maria Wern discovers a predator who is always one step ahead, playing a twisted game with the most precious resource of all: the human heart.

In the pulse-pounding twentieth installment of the Maria Wern series, international bestseller Anna Jansson delivers a masterful exploration of the thin line between love and insanity. On Gotland, the truth doesn't just hurt-it cuts to the bone.

'With the help of well-chosen details and a tremendous local knowledge, [Jansson] once again creates a seductive Gotland world populated with complex characters; a world where you as a reader are happy to return to.' - Borås Tidning Sweden