6 June 1982. The Wilderness Road opens for the season. Along the remote road cutting through the Jämtland mountain wilderness, five-metre-high walls of snow still tower on either side. When detective inspector Frank Eldståhl returns to his home, he finds a handwritten note and his wedding ring lying on the hallway table: his wife Evy has left him, taking their two children with her.

At that very moment, the telephone rings. While crews are clearing snow to make the Wilderness Road accessible, a woman’s hand is discovered trapped in one of the snow blowers. The shocking find marks the beginning of a complex and emotionally devastating murder investigation, forcing Frank to confront both the unspoken rules of the close-knit community and the wounds he carries within himself.

Who can he trust? And how will he be affected by the unsolved murder case he was confronted with as a young police officer ten years earlier?

Stekenjokk is the first book in a new series of atmospheric crime novels set along the legendary Wilderness Road in early 1980s Sweden, a country on the brink of major transformation.