On Midsummer’s Eve, three friends gather in a secluded meadow in Sweden. In the still-sun-lit northern night, they don costumes and begin to role play. But an uninvited guest soon brings their performance to a gruesome conclusion. His approach is careful; his aim is perfect. Three bullets, three corpses. The murderer then carefully photographs the grisly tableau.

Meanwhile, the Ystad police station is experiencing a summer lull. Inspector Kurt Wallander is focusing on living healthier, but his peace of mind is shattered when a fellow officer is murdered. The police slowly realize how little they know about what is going on in their seemingly serene town. An unknown killer is on the loose, but their only lead is a photograph of three dead young people in costume.

Forced to dig more deeply than he’d like into the personal life of one of his colleagues, Wallander’s investigation uncovers something he could never have imagined.

One Step Behind is the fifth book to appear in English in what the Los Angeles Times Book Review calls the “exquisite” Kurt Wallander series.