Summary

In the Prologue, investigator Harry Hole was in Los Angeles, California where he planned to spend all his money and then die by suicide after the murder of his wife, Rakel. Rakel had been murdered by Harry’s best friend Bjørn Holm for revenge. The revenge stemmed from Harry having had an affair with Bjørn's wife, Katrine. After Katrine became pregnant with Harry's child, a son named Gert, she passed Gert off as Bjørn’s. It was when Bjørn learned that Harry was Gert's father that he killed Rakel.

Harry’s plans to spend all his money and commit suicide changed when he met an elderly actress, Lucille Owens, who owed money to mobsters who were threatening her with death. Harry was drinking at a bar, Creatures, with Lucille when she asked him to watch out for her...