The Saint

Local girls’ soccer coach Sven-Gunnar Erlandsson is practically a saint in the community, known for his good works and volunteering. So when his body is found in Stockholm’s beautiful Herräng forest, shot at close range in the back of the neck while walking home from a late-night poker game, the police struggle to find a motive. Nothing has been taken from his pockets except his cell phone, and the only other clues left behind are a cryptic handwritten note and a handful of playing cards.

The Hammarby murder squad takes the case, splitting up the leads between their eclectic mix of officers. Led by Detective Chief Inspector Conny Sjöberb, the team also includes a veteran inspector who balances his career with caring for his disabled daughter, a widow who has returned to police work after several decades spent as a homemaker and pursuing a law degree, a new transplant who recently achieved minor celebrity status as an Idol contestant, and a young police assistant struggling with trauma she can’t share with her colleagues.

Each member of the team pursues a different lead and, as they interview Erlandsson’s friends and family, they discover a disturbing web of secrets, including a possible link to the cases of two missing girls. Could Erlandsson have been less of a saint than everyone thinks?

A dark and layered story told through multiple perspectives, The Saint is the fourth in the highly acclaimed Hammarby police series from Swedish author Carin Gerhardsen.