Crime reporter Ellen Tamm hasn't been the same since the Lycke case earlier in the summer. It is now August and all summer she has been on sick leave with her mental state unravelling. Under pressure - and threats - from her parents and her employer, TV4, she agrees to head home to her family farm, Irelo, to try to get a handle on her health.
When Ellen stops for petrol in the little community of Stentuna along Highway 52 she stumbles upon the story of a woman who has been assaulted and killed during the previous night. It turns out that the woman is not from the area. No one seems to know who she is or what she was doing in Stentuna.
In an attempt to change focus from her own dark past and present situation, Ellen starts to investigate the murdered woman's story. Her name was Liv.
Ellen is drawn into a web full of family secrets, lies, and betrayal. Reports keep surfacing of strange behavior among the children of Stentuna. Suddenly awful things start to happen to Ellen. Someone, or perhaps many, are trying to silence her.
And all the while, Ellen is trying to escape the questions that crowd her mind about her sister, and what really happened that terrible day.
