Significantly the corpses are discovered axed precisely in the same way with a butcher's chopper which shows the killer's attention to detail.

The work to find a connecting thread is shared by a crew that includes Beate Moerk, a dedicated, single female colleague with dreams of becoming a private detective; Münster, a detective whose career is creating cracks in his marriage and family life; and others like the nerdish Kropke who bring their professional skills as well as their personality traits to bear.

The title of the work refers to a tipping point in the solving of crimes as proposed by an admired senior colleague of Van Veeteren during his time as a probationer in the force.

Chief Inspector Borkmann alone considered the time aspect of investigation and maintained that there came a point where no more information was needed.

The good detective tries to establish when that point is reached, or passed; a bad one, lacking this ability, carries on unnecessarily.