'This town could use an elaborate murder, something more exciting than drunken fights or moonshine busts.' As Hart recalled this comment the moment Gunhild Öst announced her discovery, he feared his wish had been woefully granted. Spring 1983. Erland Hart, the only police officer in the small town of Silvernäs, is called to a lonely farmstead. A severed hand has been found on a fence post, its fingers curled in a macabre wave. The Stockholm police believe it is the work of a serial killer, while the locals are growing increasingly suspicious of teenage boys carving Satanic symbols across town. As the winter frost melts and the nearby Black River swells, the once-quiet community becomes consumed by fear and paranoia. And when the riverbank breaks, it will bring their darkest secrets to light...