num_pages: 384
description: It is 1793. Four years after the storming of the Bastille in France and more than a year after the death of King Gustav III of Sweden paranoia and whispered conspiracies are Stockholms daily bread. A promise of violence crackles in the air as ordinary citizens feel increasingly vulnerable to the whims of those in power.When Mickel Cardell a crippled ex-solider and former night watchman finds a mutilated body floating in the citys lake he feels compelled to give the unidentifiable man a proper burial. For Cecil Winge a brilliant lawyer turned consulting detective to the Stockholm police a body with no arms legs or eyes is a formidable puzzle and one last chance to set things right before he loses his battle to consumption. Together Winge and Cardell scour Stockholm to discover the bodys identity encountering the sordid underbelly of the citys elite. Meanwhile Kristofer Blix leaves rural life for the alluring charms of the capital and ambitions of becoming a doctor. His letters to his sister chronicle his wild good times and terrible misfortunes which lead him down a treacherous path.In another corner of the city a young womanAnna-Stinais consigned to the workhouse after she upsets her parish priest. Her unlikely escape plan takes on new urgency when a sadistic guard marks her as his next victim.Over the course of the novel these extraordinary characters cross paths and collide in shocking and unforgettable ways.
language: English
title: The Wolf and the Watchman: 1793
publisher: Atria Books