Original title: Tuulen puolella
Author: Leena Lehtolainen
Published: 1998
Publisher: Tammi
Genre: Crime & Suspense
Pages: 348
Part of a series: Maria Kallio series
Reading material:
Finnish edition
English edition
Maria Kallio is returning from maternity leave to take up her post as the head of violent crime at the Espoo Police Department. She spends her last free weekend with her husband, Antti, and her baby, Ida, on the fortress island of Rödskär.
A year earlier, one of Maria’s ex-boyfriends, Harri Immonen, a bird watcher, died in a fall on the steep cliffs of the island. The island’s owner, Anne Merivaara, asks Maria to reopen the case. Was it really an accident or is this a case of murder?
On the anniversary of Harri’s death, Juha Merivaara loses his life on the same rocks. It can’t be a coincidence. Who would want to get rid of the CEO of a company that makes ecological paint products? His wife, Anne, his animal rights activist son, or his daughter, who is dating an opera singer her father’s age? Or is the culprit world-circumnavigating sailor Mikke Sjöberg, who Maria finds altogether too interesting?
After losing the race for chief inspector to Maria, Pertti Ström has begun acting strangely. At the same time, the violent crimes unit is being kept busy by animal rights activist strikes all over Espoo. As the fields of Kauklahti burn, Maria is forced to decide who is really on the side of nature and justice.
Rights sold:
FINLAND: Tammi (orig.)
AUDIO: Word Audio
JAPAN: Tokyo Sogensha Co., Ltd.
TV RIGHTS: Jarowskij Finland
UNITED STATES: Amazon Publishing