One quiet, snow-covered Sunday morning in Bruges, a prominent German business executive is found dead in the streets, apparently due to the side-effects of alcohol, but there is a something about the autopsy that does not add up for Van In. When he questions the businessman's friend, a Dutchman, he too is found dead the next morning, burned to death in a house fire. When there is an explosion in the middle of a popular tourist area in downtown Bruges, Van In struggles to find the connection between the three incidents, but no one comes forward to claim responsibility for this terrorist attack. Just an anonymous letter to the police, threatening more bombings unless they cooperate with a series of greedy demands, which would undermine the entire city government. Aided by the spunky and beautiful assistant D. A. Hannelore Maartens, Van In finds himself enmeshed in the case of his career that threatens not just the lives of countless of innocent people, but the heart of the city he loves.