Roger Brown is a headhunter and art thief living beyond his means and when he meets Clas Greve, a corporate candidate who reveals that he owns a priceless Rubens painting, Roger breaks into his apartment, initiating a series of events which puts Roger's life in danger.
After two young women are found dead, both drowned in their own blood, Inspector Harry Hole is compelled to return to Norway to see his dying father and to investigate the brutal crime, which may be the work of a serial killer.
"In Oslo, after the first snow of the season has fallen, a woman disappears, and a sinister snowman is left in her wake. As irascible detective Harry Hole realizes that this is only one of multiple disappearances, he begins to think a serial killer may be at work--and may be drawing in Hole personally and intentionally"--