The same night that actor Mauritz Möller drinks himself into oblivion in a hotel room in Stockholm, a young woman is found murdered in his apartment. The next morning, his memories are clouded by alcohol as he stands outside Hotel Diplomat, staring at a newly refurbished Saab for which he has just received the keys.

Unaware that he is wanted for murder, Mauritz leaves Stockholm. Through a series of text messages, he is given instructions that send him north along the coast of the Bay of Bothnia, and soon he realizes that he is not only on the run from the police. Someone else is following him on the roads.

Meanwhile, Inspector Claes Ståhl and his colleague Janina Ekström are leading a rigorous investigation into multiple murders. Could the missing Miriam de Brenner’s secrets hold the key to solving the case?

The Serpent Woman is the second part of the closely connected trilogy Maras Children –  A story about how abundance, trauma, and lovelessness can affect a family for generations , and create people who are dangerous to everyone, even themselves.