November 8, 2021
Rosenfeldt, creator of the TV series The Bridge, debuts with a fast-moving procedural set in Sweden’s remote north. The city of Haparanda has seen international trafficking, both legal and illicit, throughout its long history. When dead wolves are found with human remains in their bellies outside the city, policewoman Hannah Wester and her chief and lover, Gordon Niska, investigate. Hannah and Gordon soon have to look into a spiraling series of vicious drug-related crimes that may be related to atrocities committed by Katja, a sadistic hit woman sent by a Russian gang lord to retrieve 30 million kronor worth of drugs. Tormented by menopausal hot flashes, her own dark past, and a failing marriage, Hannah struggles through her anger at being female, as well as at Sweden’s swelling gang problem and its failing socialist policies. Rosenfeldt’s abrupt cinematic cuts and vivid bursts of violence keep the pages turning, despite the somewhat predictable plot. Haparanda, strikingly described in human terms (“she grew so fast she creaked”), is a character unto itself. This standalone is ready-made for TV. Agent: Tor Jonasson, Salomonsson Agency (Sweden).