The book, set in Copenhagen, opens in the aftermath of a rape; a pretty grim way to start though not very graphic, at least. The victim goes home and tries to wash off the evidence, but later her mother brings her to the police.
Cecilie has recently been promoted. She read to me like the prototype of a female police detective found in television, films and books. Cecilie is in her 30s, no-nonsense and hardened. Cecilie, due to her unprocessed trauma and the fact that she knows the rape victim she taught her self-defense , does something really stupid.
Unfortunately, this really stupid, definitely career-ending and possibly criminal act is somehow witnessed by an unknown person who records the whole thing.
The person, who calls himself Lazarus, then reaches out to Cecilie and begins to blackmail her. Lazarus wants Cecilie to be an instrument of justice against various unsavory people who have gotten away with or are getting away with terrible crimes. Cecilie, could, of course, just turn herself into her superiors and confess everything. But often in books with this type of dynamic, I find myself uncomfortable or frustrated because even though I know by the rules of the story the main character has no choice, I also know that things are going to get much worse before they get better.
This ability is never explained at the end, which irritated me. Cecilie was a hard character to warm up to because she was herself so closed off and dour. About her only nice relationship is with her partner, Lasse.
