The Keeper of Lost Causes (originally published in the UK as Mercy) is the nail-biting first book in the internationally bestselling Department Q series. It is now a major movie, released in the UK in August 2014. At first the prisoner scratches at the walls until her fingers bleed. But there is no escaping the room. With no way of measuring time, her days, weeks, months go unrecorded. She vows not to go mad. She will not give her captors the satisfaction. She will die first. Copenhagen detective Carl Morck has been taken off homicide to run a newly created department for unsolved crimes. His first case concerns Merete Lynggaard, who vanished five years ago. Everyone says she's dead. Everyone says it's a waste of time. He thinks they're right. The voice in the dark is distorted, harsh and without mercy. It says the prisoner's torture will only end when she answers one simple question. It is one she has asked herself a million times: Why is this happening? Praise for Jussi Adler-Olsen: Gripping storytelling. (Guardian). Engrossing. (Sunday Express). As impressive as it is unnerving. (Independent). Jussi Adler-Olsen has sold over 10 million books worldwide. He is the internationally bestselling author of the Department Q series, featuring Carl Morck. The Keeper of Lost Causes was originally published in the UK as Mercy, and is now a major Danish language movie.

Germany, World War II. Two English pilots are shot down and crash land behind enemy lines. The area swarming with German troops, they have only minutes to crawl from the wreckage and make their escape. Boarding a train reserved for wounded SS men on the way home from the eastern front, they ditch their clothing and personal belongings and pose as German soldiers, hiding for days in soiled, bloody beds, feigning unconsciousness. But their act is too convincing and they find find themselves being transferred to Alphabet House, a mental hospital for those damaged by war. How will they escape? And for how long can you simulate insanity without going crazy for real? They are playing a dangerous game and it seems they might not be the only ones in Alphabet House hiding secrets... Alphabet House is a page-turning psychological thriller, containing the same panache and style fans will have come to know and love from Jussi-Adler Olsen's Department Q series and is a great introduction for those who are yet to discover this award-winning author.

Und dann kam die Angst wie ein schleichendes Gift. Die verzerrte Stimme kam aus einem Lautsprecher irgendwo im Dunklen: Herzlichen Glückwunsch zu deinem Geburtstag, Merete. Du bist jetzt hier seit 126 Tagen, und das ist unser Geburtstagsgeschenk: Das Licht wird von nun an ein Jahr lang eingeschaltet bleiben. Es sei denn, du weißt die Antwort: Warum halten wir dich fest? Am 2. März 2002 verschwindet eine Frau spurlos auf der Fähre von Rødby nach Puttgarden, man vermutet Tod durch Ertrinken. Doch sie ist nicht tot, sondern wird in einem Gefängnis aus Beton gefangen gehalten. Wer sind die Täter? Was wollen sie von dieser Frau? Und: Kann ein Mensch ein solches Martyrium überleben?