The Hanging (Svinehunde) Volume no. 1
One early Monday morning before school begins, two children make a gruesome discovery: In the
school’s gymnasium, they find the bodies of five naked and heavily disfigured men. They are
hanging from the gymnasium ceiling placed with mathematical precision. It looks like a public
execution. For Detective Chief Superintendent Konrad Simonsen and his team from the Homicide
Division in Copenhagen, the case is a puzzle.
As the disfigured men are gradually identified, Simonsen realises that the motive behind the
murders is regular vigilantism and that the victims are all paedophiles so, despite already
having an awful relationship with the press, he tries to put a lid on the case to prevent the
sensationalist press whipping up public opinion. But without success. Behind the bestial killings
is a small group of “avengers”, all victims of paedophile attacks. In a carefully orchestrated
campaign, the group feed the press as well as the public with emails, newspaper advertisements
and video recordings of the executions, with the goal of directing attention to the mild
sentencing practice towards paedophiles. And neither the press nor the politicians are slow in
following the demands from the court of public opinion for heavier punishment. But then another
spectacular murder is committed, Konrad Simonsen comes under pressure from all sides, not least
when he receives photos of his daughter Anna Mia, sent by the now deceased Per Clausen.
The Hanging is an effective crime story about taking the law into one’s own hands, a tale of
manipulation and demagoguery.
Buy The Hanging here