 
The stunning eighth installment in the Martin Beck mystery series by the renowned Swedish crime writing duo is a masterful take on a classic locked room mystery. With an introduction by Michael Connelly: "One of the most authentic, gripping, and profound collections of police procedurals ever accomplished."
 A young blonde  in sunglasses robs a bank and kills a hapless citizen. Across town, a corpse with  a bullet shot through its heart is found in a locked room–with no gun at the scene.  The crimes seem disparate, but to Martin Beck they are two pieces of the same puzzle,  and solving it becomes the one way he can escape the pains of his failed marriage  and the lingering effects of a near-fatal bullet wound. Exploring the ramifications  of egotism and intellect, luck and accident, this tour de force of detection bears  the unmistakable substance and gravity of real life.