Arne Dahl: Misterioso
Arne Dahl - Misterioso
A failed robbery attempt at Sydbanken outside Avesta leaves one robber lying dead with a dart through his eye, but there are no witnesses to the incident and no perpetrator is ever identified.
In Stockholm, three high-profile businessmen are assassinated in a short period of time, and Jenny Hultin of National CID is assigned the task of putting together a special team to solve the case before the assassin strikes again. Dependable Paul Hjelm, computer expert Jorge Chavez, old warhorse Viggo Norlander, freethinker Arto Söderstedt, muscle-man Gunnar Nyberg and outstanding interrogator Kerstin Holm together form the A-group.
Despite the fact that the three dead men moved in the same circles and frequented the same clubs, it proves difficult to find a common denominator that could have lead to their deaths. Several false leads delay the investigation, and before the A-group gets back on the right track, another businessman turns up dead.
The ammunition that was used in the killings has been traced to an Estonian Juri-X gang and Norlander travels to Tallinn to investigate the connection. Frustrated at always being stuck behind a desk, he takes unnecessary risks. He ends up in the gangs hands and is crucified in an abandoned warehouse. He returns to Stockholm, crushed but alive, and brings back information that connects the Estonian gang with one of the companies where each of the victims was on the board of directors.
Meanwhile, the rest of the A-group follows up on an unexpected lead. When the murderer attacks his fifth victim, he is interrupted and leaves behind a CD with a unique recording of Thelonius Monks Misterioso album. Through Chavezs contacts in the music business, they manage to trace the record back to a bartender in Avesta who turns out to have bought alcohol from the Juri-X gang. When pressured, the bartender confesses that it was the guys who delivered the alcohol that stole the CD. The mystery deepens and everything points to the Estonian gang being behind the killing of the board members of a company that refused to pay for protection.
But its not quite that simple
The police in Avesta explain that it was one of the gangs alcohol suppliers who was killed during the failed bank robbery we saw in the beginning. An investigation of the banks employees reveals that there can really only be one possible suspect in the killing. It turns out that the so-called Fat Cat Killings have nothing whatsoever to do with the Baltic mafia, but were an act of personal revenge. With only one of Sydbankens board members still alive, the A-group faces a race against time to find him before the murderer does.
revenge, murder