Håkan Nesser, 'the Godfather of Swedish Crime' (Metro), is back with the second installment in the Inspector Barbarotti series, The Root of Evil.

*Shortlisted for the Crime Writers' Association's International Dagger*

July 2007. A letter arrives on Inspector Barbarotti’s doorstep detailing a murder that is about to take place in his quiet Swedish town. By the time the police track down the subject of the letter, he is already dead.

So when a second letter arrives, then a third, and a fourth, it’s a game of cat and mouse to stop the killer before he can make good on all of his promises.

Meanwhile, an anonymous diary is unearthed depicting the incidents of a two week holiday in France five years earlier, and it doesn’t take Barbarotti long to realize the people populating the diary are the ones whose lives are now in the balance . . .

Continue the thrilling investigative series with The Secret Life of Mr Roos.

'One of the best of the Nordic Noir writers' - Guardian

The godfather of Swedish crime * Metro *
Told with wry humour and compassion, Nesser has four more Barbarotti stories to come — cherish them all -- Daily Mail on The Darkest Day
A master of suspense * Sunday Times *
In an exemplary translation by Sarah Death, this tangled tale of guilt and betrayal whets the appetite for translations of the other Barbarotti novels -- Financial Times on The Darkest Day
One of the best of the Nordic Noir writers * Guardian *
One of Sweden's best crime writers * Mail on Sunday *
Barbarotti has to disentangle years of bad blood and resentment to get to the heart of a thrillingly complex case * Sunday Times (on The Darkest Day) *

Håkan Nesser is one of Sweden’s most popular crime writers, receiving numerous awards for his novels featuring Inspector Van Veeteren, including the European Crime Fiction Star Award (Ripper Award), the Swedish Crime Writers’ Academy Prize (three times) and Scandinavia’s Glass Key Award. His Van Veeteren series is published in over twenty-five countries and has sold over 15 million copies worldwide. Håkan Nesser lives in Gotland with his wife, and spends part of each year in the UK.