Northern Finland, 1952, at the height of the Cold War with its neighbour the Soviet Union. A misunderstood, flawed, whip-smart Finnish woman police detective Hella Mauzer, while fighting against prejudice and political interference, investigates a murder on the Finno-Russian border. But that is just the beginning of her involvement. In fact, the locals have been the victims of a crime so evil it is beyond anything any of them could have ever imagined.