Sara Vallén

In the university town of Lund in the south of Sweden, summer is coming, and students are looking forward to the upcoming break. But tragedy casts its dark shadow when a young woman is found brutally beaten in Lund City Park. Not far from that crime scene, a young man is also assaulted. Both victims are discovered holding a white lilac in their hands. Chief Inspector Sara Vallén is assigned to the case, only to be removed when the primary suspect turns out to be her own son. To clear his name, Vallén must defy orders and undertake her own investigation . . .

Chief Inspector Sara Vallén knows the pristine autumn vistas of Lund belie a harsher reality. Just days ago, she had the devastating experience of testifying in court against the man who abused her. Still recovering from that ordeal, she is called to a garden community on the outskirts of town to investigate a brutal murder. A man’s body has been discovered in one of the potting sheds of Västra Sommarstaden. The victim was a social worker whom friends and colleagues describe as a wonderful, kind, and generous human being. But Vallén’s intuition tells her something’s wrong.

Twenty years ago, a toddler disappeared from a preschool in Lund. Despite an extensive investigation, the boy was never found. When Chief Inspector Sara Vallén receives a tip that could shed some light on the tragic incident, she and her colleague Torsten Venngren decide to reopen the case. But as they do so, Vallén’s two daughters face troubles of their own.