A series of gruesome murders of young women begins in the small Westphalian town of Altena. The bodies are left with brutal precision in bushes and forests - without sexual violence, but with the cruel symbol of strangulation. The 59-year-old chief detective Rainer Lennert, who after years of patrol duty has taken refuge in the quiet office work, is suddenly entangled in a nightmare that takes him to the limits of his existence. When he realizes that the victims have a shocking familial connection to him, he embarks on a dangerous battle against time. But this case is not just a hunting game with a brutal murderer - it is a journey into the dark secrets of a city and a confrontation with one's own dark legacy. A psychological thriller that is brutal, suspenseful and full of relentless twists and turns - "And they fidget until the end" keeps the reader in its grip until the last breath.