A mother's dying wish sealed with a deadly promise. Four men with a secret they thought they'd buried decades earlier. A detective in love. A man desperate to live despite the shadow of his guilty past. After hearing her mother's deathbed confession and following her mother's dreary funeral, Maria Adler realizes she has no other option but to seize upon her mother's imperative to do something. Dissolving the life she loathes, Maria changes her appearance and disappears. When she emerges, revenge is her sole occupation. Van Veeteren and his associates are left bewildered by the curious murder of a man shot twice in the heart and twice below the belt. A quiet, utterly dull man, the only suspicious activity his surviving wife can recall is a series of peculiar phone calls. Repeatedly the telephone would ring, offering no answer aside from an obscure pop song from the 1960s. This siren song is linked to an identical murder, but the true link between these heinous crimes remains unknown while a daughter's pride grows with the satisfaction of vengeance and another detective's lover offers telling insights that only an outsider could deduce. With the critical eye and cool observation necessary for a successful chess match, Van Veeteren pursues his subject across the country. Wading through the outrageous leads and fruitless tips, he chases his mark. A breathless thriller full of deception, blackmail, and cold murder, Woman with Birthmark is a chilling read

Four pensioners celebrate the fact that they have won 20,000 kronor in the lottery. Just hours later, one of them – Waldemar Leverkuhn – is found in his home, stabbed to death. With Chief Inspector Van Veeteren on sabbatical, working in a second hand bookshop, the case is assigned to Inspector Munster. But when another member of the lottery group disappears, as well as Leverkuhn's neighbour, Munster appeals to Van Veeteren for assistance. Soon Munster will find himself interviewing the Leverkuhn family, including the eldest – Irene – a resident of a psychiatric clinic. And as he delves deeper into the family's history, he will discover dark secrets and startling twists, which not only threaten the clarity of the case – but also his life…