Borkmann's Point

When Chief Inspector Van Veeteren is reluctantly drawn from his holiday, he finds himself entwined in an investigation of two murders before the culprit strikes again. Håkan Nesser's Borkmann's Point is the gripping second novel in the compelling Van Veeteren series.

Borkmann's rule was hardly a rule; in fact, it was more of a comment, a landmark for tricky cases . . . In every investigation, he maintained, there comes a point beyond which we don't really need any more information. When we reach that point, we already know enough to solve the case by means of nothing more than some decent thinking.

Two men are brutally murdered with an axe in the quiet coastal town of Kaalbringen. Chief Inspector Van Veeteren is summoned to assist the local authorities, under a retiring local police chief eager to conclude his duties.

But there is no clear link between the victims. Then one of Van Veeteren's colleagues, a determined young female detective vanishes, muddying the waters further – perhaps she has reached Borkmann's Point before anyone else . . .