Fredrik is a happy man; he has a girlfriend he loves, a business running smoothely and he is going to be a father. But his happiness proves false. At a party, his girlfriend declares that she will leave him for her true love. Frederik is distraught. But his biological clock has started ticking, and his desire for a child is overwhelming. At an adoption agency he meets Milla, a woman who has also been treated unfairly by love. Could Milla be the answer to Frederik's dream?

A single dog hairdresser meets romance when spending a weekend at a health resort.

Desirée, a modern librarian with urban friends and interests is visiting her late husband's grave when she meets Benny, a simple farmer. After his mother's death Benny lives alone on the run-down farm, desperately seeking a woman to take care of him. In spite of their differences the two have the dream of finding that special someone in common, and fall passionately in love. Benny wants Desirée to move in with him and start a family as soon as possible. But being a farmer's wife is not something she is very enthusiastic about. Just presenting Benny as her boyfriend proves to be an embarrassing experience. And when she gets a tempting job offer in Stockholm she has to consider her priorities carefully.

Münster stumbles upon the body of a young woman who has been strangled in her home and surprises the killer, who is still at the scene. The killer flees, but an unusual book is found at the scene, dedicated to the killer. When another victim is found, Van Veeteren's literary expertise is put to the test when it becomes clear that they are dealing with a serial killer who chooses his victims based on the names of characters from 19th-century crime novels. What will be the name of the next victim?