Although Finland has a population of only five and a half million, its rate of violent crime rivals that of most American cities. Perhaps it’s the long, dark, frigid days that spawn depression, suicide, and murder.

Now the police inspector in a small town in rural Finland, faced with the murder of a black actress, is determined to solve the crime without big city help, and to keep the potentially explosive case out of the national news.

Through the eyes of Inspector Kari Vaara and his American-born wife, who is struggling to come to terms with her new home, James Thompson explores the culture and psyche of a people living at the edge of the Arctic Circle.