The third novel in Alexander McCall Smith's new DETECTIVE VARG series...

Suspicion, it seems to Detective Ulf Varg, is everywhere. Even he, a respected police officer, is not beyond its grip. Not when it comes to things he loves, such as his dog Martin, whose bizarre scuffle with a troublesome squirrel has resulted in a sequence of perhaps unwise decisions on Varg's part.

Along with this frustrating predicament, Varg continues to have existential matters on his mind. His hopeless feelings for his colleague, Anna. His particular place in the world. His increasing desire to open his mind to certain relationships, including that with his professional partner, Blomquist, whose flaws are often overshadowed by his loyalty and kindness, along with his impressive investigative work.

Together they have been assigned to get to the bottom of a sensitive crime that has occurred in Sweden's esteemed art community. The highly regarded art historian and expert, Anders Kindgren, has either wrongly identified a valuable work, or he has been framed for the mistake. Fingers point in several directions, and their investigations lead Varg and Blomquist into a maze of motives, infidelities and suspicion at every turn.

The eventual truth of the case, as with many sensitive crimes, lies not in greed nor ambition but in love itself. Sometimes, Varg realises, we are compelled to put love first, even if that means angering or hurting others. Or, in the case of Martin, testing the very limits of the law.

The third book in Alexander McCall Smith's new DETECTIVE VARG series

Perplexing, unfathomable and perhaps unimportant, the cases that Malmo's Department of Sensitive Crimes take on will test them to their limits.

Life - and crime - is not always as it seems for Ulf Varg and the other fearless detectives in Malmo's Department of Sensitive Crimes. There are always surprising new cases to take on, and the latest batch is no exception. And that's not to mention Ulf's struggle to contain his feelings for his colleague Anna Bengsdotter. All in all, things are distinctly difficult in Malmo, and it seems up to Ulf and the Department to set them right.

'McCall Smith's continuing warm-heartedness makes Ulf such unfailingly good company' Reader's Digest

'Like AA Milne meets Karl Ove Knausgaard' Financial Times

'Wonderfully soothing and relaxing' Daily Telegraph