Inspector Harry Hole of the Oslo Crime Squad is dispatched to Sydney to observe a murder case.  Harry is free to offer assistance, but he has firm instructions to stay out of trouble. The victim is a twenty-three year old Norwegian woman who is a minor celebrity back home. Never one to sit on the sidelines, Harry befriends one of the lead detectives, and one of the witnesses, as he is drawn deeper into the case.  Together, they discover that this is only the latest in a string of unsolved murders, and the pattern points toward a psychopath working his way across the country. As they circle closer and closer to the killer, Harry begins to fear that no one is safe, least of all those investigating the case.

奧斯陸犯罪打擊小組的調查員哈利霍爾受命到雪梨，監看一起謀殺案件的調查過程。雖然他很樂意提供協助，但上頭卻嚴正要求他不准涉入。這起謀殺案的受害者是位挪威籍女性，年僅二十三歲，在家鄉小有名氣。從來不置身事外的哈利，對案情了解愈來愈深入，也和其中一位警探和一位目擊者建立起交情。他們同心協力，竟發現眼下這起案件只是近來一連串未破的謀殺案之一，而且犯罪手法都將兇手指向一位精神病患，在全國各地用同樣的方法行兇。他們逐漸逼近兇手時，哈利開始擔心大家都身陷險境，而調查這起案件的人更無一能倖免。