Hardcover / ISBN-13: 9781529446968

Price: £25

ON SALE: 8th September 2026

Genre: Crime & Mystery / Suspense

Disclosure: If you buy products using the retailer buttons above, we may earn a commission from the retailers you visit.

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER – 30 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE

Former Head of Department Q Carl Mørck has retired. That was the plan, at least. So when he comes across a disturbing audio recording, he turns it over to his former colleagues, who are struggling to keep the old Department up and running on their own. That is, until a new transfer unexpectedly arrives – Helena Henry, a Frenchwoman who throws herself into the investigation with gusto . . . but who may also have secrets of her own.

As the team realizes that the audio recording might shed new light on a seemingly open-and-shut murder-suicide case from years earlier, suddenly everything they thought they knew about the case is called into question.

And meanwhile, a spurt of seemingly random violence – an explosion off the coast of Jutland, a young woman shot dead in Copenhagen – sets the Department Q team investigating a possible connection to a different long-ago dark and sinister event, one that someone has never forgotten.

READERS LOVE THE DEPARTMENT Q SERIES

‘Just brilliant’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ READER REVIEW

‘Terrific characters . . . entertaining, thrilling’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ READER REVIEW

‘Loved each and every one of the Department Q books’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ READER REVIEW

Reviews

Adler-Olsen's storycraft is brilliant...Die-hard Carl Mørck fans will applaud this investigation's familiarly intricate layers and the satisfying evolution of Assad's and Rose's characters
Booklist
As in the other books in this excellent series, the path to resolution is twisted, the theme is grim, and the violence is never sugar-coated...A good Nordic noir with strong psychological overtones
Library Journal
There's enough atmosphere and surprise on offer to satisfy series fans
Publishers Weekly
Jussi Adler-Olsen is a name to know. In a crowded genre, Adler-Olsen is an outlier
GQ.com
If you like the dark humor, wisecracking, and the layered betrayals of Raymond Chandler, then read Adler-Olsen's Department Q series
Men's Journal
PRAISE FOR JUSSI ADLER-OLSEN'S DEPARTMENT Q SERIES: Quirky, tense and delightfully unpredictable
Sunday Times
Scandinavian crime novels don't get much darker than Jussi Adler-Olsen's Department Q police procedurals
New York Times Book Review
Gripping storytelling
Guardian