The hanging death of a nondescript old man in a shabby apartment in the 87th Precinct leads detectives Carella, Meyer, Brown, and Weeks to the discovery of an upcoming musical with ties to a mysterious drug, and a killer.

In a flat near Reykjavik city centre, a young man lies dead in a pool of blood although there are no signs of a break-in or any struggle. A vial of narcotics found in the victim's pocket among other clues soon lead Erlendur's colleagues down a trail of hidden violence, psychological brutality and of wrongs that will never be fully righted.

"A dark and bitingly humorous collection of short stories from the "brilliantly evocative" (Time) Paul Theroux A family watches in horror as their patriarch transforms into the singing, wise-cracking lead of an old-timey minstrel show. A renowned art collector relishes publicly destroying his most valuable pieces. Two boys stand by helplessly as their father stages an all-consuming war on the raccoons living in the woods around their house. A young...