From Edgar Award finalist Anne Holt comes the captivating third book in the series featuring the brilliant and tough police inspector Hanne Wilhelmsen, who must investigate the grisly murder of an orphanage director.

In an orphanage outside Oslo, a twelve-year-old boy is causing havoc. The institution's aging director, Agnes Vestavik, sees something chilling in Olav's eyes: sheer hatred. When Vestavik is found murdered, stabbed in the neck with a kitchen knife—with Olav nowhere to be found—the case goes to maverick investigator Hanne Wilhelmsen, recently promoted to superintendent in the Oslo police. Hanne suspects that Olav witnessed the murder and fled, and she orders an investigation of the orphanage staff. But Hanne is hopeless at delegating and sharing responsibilities. Only Hanne's supreme deductive skills keep her on the job, but this is one case where her instincts are leading her astray.

Meanwhile, Olav makes his way to his once unfit mother's apartment in central Oslo. When police finally catch up to him, Olav will lead them on a chase that will upend all of their assumptions. A dark and captivating new chapter in this brilliant, rollicking series, Death of the Demon examines that murky intersection between crime and justice.