The kidnapping of a DA's wife, the murder of several minor criminals and the police finding a large stash of weapons is all in a day's work for criminal detective Roland Hassel.

A lifeboat floats ashore at the coast of Skåne. Inside are two dead men who who've been murdered. Policeman Kurt Wallander is assigned to the case. The men are identified with the help of the police in Latvia. One of their officers travel to Sweden to to help but when he returns to his home country he is mysteriously murdered. Kurt flies to Riga to find out why and is drawn into complex conspiracy.