On a blazing hot summer's day, holidaymakers at a guesthouse on a Norwegian island are shocked to discover that a fellow guest has been found murdered on a desolate plain. The nameless narrator, an author, was the last person to see the victim alive; shortly afterwards, he was disturbed by a noise like "a rattling of chains." A local tells him this is "the iron chariot," which is said to presage death. Detective Asbjorn Krag is summoned from the capital,...