The leader of a religious cult in Guyana instigates a mass suicide. He succeeds in killing himself & his whole flock of worshippers save one. In a wood outside Ystad the police make an horrific discovery: a severed head & hands locked together in an attitude of prayer. A Bible lies at the victims side handwritten corrections & amendments on every page. A string of incidents including attacks on domestic animals has been taking place & Inspector Wallander fears that these events could be the prelude to attacks on humans on a much greater scale. Meanwhile Linda Wallander preparing to join the Ystad police force arrives at the station. Showing all the hallmarks of her father
- the maverick approach the flaring temper
- she becomes involved in the case & in the process is forced to confront a group of extremists bent on punishing the worlds sinners.