THE HAND THAT TREMBLES

The disappearance of a small-town politician masks dark secrets and triggers a series of further crimes.

Sven-Arne and his stern uncle Ante have a complicated relationship. Ante, whose shrouded past involves some important role in World War II, has controlled his nephew with an iron fist since boyhood. Many observers find Sven-Arne's devotion, which also contains a streak of defiance, inexplicable. One day Sven-Arne, a county commissioner who lives near Uppsala, walks away with no explanation from his job, his wife Elsa and his life. Over a decade later, Swedish businessman Jan Svensk spots Sven-Arne in, of all places, Bangalore. Under the name John Mailer, Sven-Arne has worked extensively as a volunteer teacher and gardener, endearing himself to locals, who reflexively close ranks against the new interloper. Taking Sven-Arne's rebuff as a challenge, Svensk becomes obsessed with exposing him, both in India and back home in Sweden. Meanwhile, there's much suspicious activity in Sven-Arne's hometown. Elsa lies in hospital after being hit by a truck, and Inspector Ann Lindell (The Demon of Dakar, 2008, etc.), along with local policeman Bosse Marksson, is investigating the discovery of a female foot in the woods. All narrative strands eventually intertwine in Eriksson's intricate thriller, which moves fluidly back and forth in time and place.