Wallander has become a grandfather and is trying to seize the role as good as it goes, because he wants to be closer to his daughter Linda and her family. When Linda's father in law mysteriously disappears, Wallander is drawn into the case that takes him back in time to the Cold War and the submarine violations in the Stockholm archipelago. At the same time he's starting to suspect that something is not right with him...

Kurt returns to work after a temporarly suspention. At the same time a girl disappeares which draws in the entire Ystad police and military looking frantically for her. When Kurt starts to work on the case, he begins to see similarities to a case he worked on ten years earlier, which hit him very personally.

A young woman is found dead in Ystad. When the police begin the case, they are told that the woman came from Moldova and that she worked as a prostitute in Sweden. Kurt, who leads the case, decides to seek out the woman's family in Moldova. When he returns to Sweden, he is involved in a car accident and takes a leave of absence from work. Around the same time Kurt finds where is forgetfulness comes from.

Kurt Wallander has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, but has a hard time accepting it and are therefore trying to keep it a secret for the surroundings. At the same time an arsonist who has served his sentence is freed from prison.

It's almost Christmas and Kurt is troubled by his memory disease. He realizes that it will soon be necessary to tell his colleagues and the rest of the world that he is sick. But he finds it difficult to give up his job, his only identity. In Ystad, there is a brutal kidnapping of a famous restaurateur, Paolo Salino. Kurt takes on the case but is forced to enlist the help of his colleague Jenny from the police in Malmö.