When Inspector Gunnar Barbarotti returns to work after a personal tragedy, his boss hands him a cold case to ease him back in. But the case doesn't stay cold for long . . .The Axe Womanis the fifth Inspector Barbarotti novel from bestselling author Håkan Nesser.Five years previously, Morinder simply vanished. His partner claimed he had travelled abroad, never to return. But Arnold’s partner was Ellen Bjarnebo: one of Sweden’s most notorious killers, having served over ten years in prison for killing her first husband and dismembering his body with an axe. And when Barbarotti seeks to re-interview Ellen, she is nowhere to be found . . .