Its Norwegian title, Gjenferd, does not directly translate to "Phantom"; rather to "revenant", a word similar to "ghosts" but specifically meaning "someone who comes back from the dead".

[1][2] Inspector Harry Hole is returned from his self-imposed exile in Hong Kong when he is told that Oleg, the son of his on-off girlfriend Rakel Fauke, has been arrested for the murder of his flatmate, Gusto.

Meanwhile, an airline pilot is arrested for smuggling heroin, but—thanks to a mole within the Oslo police—he is released and is pressured into working more closely with the drug dealing gang.

Hole meets an elderly priest who, throughout the novel, gives Harry seemingly random information that ultimately aids him in solving Gusto's murder.

He discovers that drug-pushers who deal in violin wear Arsenal football shirts and, using this clue, manages to obtain a sample.