Life comes to an end, but memory is forever. A moving epitaph for a lost loved one, or the menacing taunt of a vengeful killer? When a man is found brutally murdered in the woods, those words come to haunt the small German village of Merklen. And homicide inspector Peter Böhm faces the daunting task of unraveling a mystery with deep and twisted roots—in a town where doors stay closed, people stay silent, and death may have the final word.

But the case is just one more uphill battle for Böhm, who’s already grappling with a son’s death and a marriage on the edge. When a second grisly murder occurs and the same sinister death notice appears, fear spreads that a killer thirsting for justice will continue to spill bad blood. Now, for Böhm and his team of detectives, the only way forward may be back—decades into the past, where a horrific secret was buried…but will no longer lie silent.

Translated by: Aubrey Botsford