Dead Joker — Anne Holt

From Anne Holt, the internationally bestselling author of 1222 -- called the “godmother of modern Norwegian crime fiction” by Jo Nesbø -- the next installment of the Edgar Award nominated-mystery series finds Hanne Wilhelmsen caught at a deadly crossroads…

Chief Public Prosecutor Sigurd Halvorsrud's wife is found dead in front of the fireplace in the family living room. The cause of death: she has been brutally decapitated. Her husband, who witnessed the grisly murder and is himself covered in blood, immediately falls under suspicion, though he claims his wife's killer was Ståle Salvesen, a man he'd prosecuted years before. Detective Inspector Hanne Wilhelmsen is called in to lead the investigation with her old colleague, Billy T. Despite the circumstantial evidence, Hanne is unconvinced of Sigurd Halvorsrud's guilt -- that is, until a witness says he saw Ståle Salvesen commit suicide by jumping off a bridge days before the murder took place. Then a journalist at one of Oslo's largest newspapers is found beheaded. What links these two horrifically violent crimes?

The demanding investigation soon clashes with a terrible crisis in Hanne's personal life. Cecilie, the woman she has lived with for almost twenty years, has fallen seriously ill and doesn't have much time to live.

With a savage killer on the loose, Hanne must ask herself: Is the truth worth chasing at all costs?