Wallander found a farmhouse in the country he likes & is about to make an offer to buy it when he stumbles over a human hand in the backyard. The hand belonged to a woman in her fifties but her identity is unknown. Wallander & his colleagues now have to find out who the woman was & who killed her. The fact that she died after WW2 makes that more difficult. The story also focuses on Wallander‘s thoughts on ageing & retirement, end of life.