Ystad, Sweden, fall 1997. Two teenage girls brutally murder a taxi driver. Although they are quickly apprehended, one of them escapes police custody and disappears without a trace. A few days later, a man stops at an ATM during his evening walk and suddenly falls dead to the ground. Shortly thereafter, a blackout cuts power to a large swath of southern Sweden. When a serviceman arrives at the malfunctioning power substation, he makes a grisly discovery.

Inspector Kurt Wallander begins to sense a connection between all of these events and, at the same time, becomes increasingly aware of the vulnerability of our digitized society.