The Gallows Bird

Patrik (police officer) and Erica (writer) have reconnected, had a child and are moving headlong into matrimony.[2] Problems sidelined when a chaotic alcohol-fuelled party ends with the death of an unpopular contestant on a reality TV show.[3] A woman is found dead, apparently the victim of a car crash: the first in a spate of seemingly inexplicable accidents in Tanumshede.[4] The car reeks of alcohol and the assumption is that it is a drink drive accident.[5] It becomes clear there's a serial assassin in the vicinity.[6] As cameras shadow the stars' every move, relations with the locals are strained to breaking point.[7] A piece of evidence reveals that a pair of seemingly disparate homicides are linked, a pattern emerges of similar homicides spread over many years—in different regions of Sweden; slowly Patrick realises that these cases are more closely linked than he realises.[8] Patrick also has his own ephemera to contend with: a wedding to arrange, and Erica's sister Anna—he's experiencing stress.[9]