A dark-skinned young boy is found dead, frozen to the ground in a pool of his own blood. The boy`s Thai half-brother is missing; is he implicated, or simply afraid for his own life? While fears increase that the murder could have been racially motivated, the police receive reports that a suspected paedophile has been spotted in the area. Detective Erlendur`s investigation soon unearths the tensions simmering beneath the surface of Iceland`s outwardly liberal, multi-cultural society, while the murder forces Erlendur to confront the tragedy in his own past.