Искусни полицијски детектив Вил Дормер (А. Паћино) долази са партнером, детективом Екартом (М. Донован) у градић на Аљасци како би решио случај убиства тинејџерке. У истрази му помаже локална полиција, нарочито млада детективка Ели Бур (Х. Свонк) која је фасцинирана Дормеровом репутацијом. Хватајући осумњиченика по магли, Дормер рањава свог партнера, а затим одлучује да то заташка. Међутим, бегунац га позива телефоном и саопштава му да је видео шта се догодило те му нуди нагодбу: он неће открити да је Дормер убио партнера, а Дормер ће одустати од његовог прогона и кривицу свалити на момка убијене девојке...

Detectives Jonas and Erik are called to the midnight sun country of northern Norway to investigate a recent homicide, but their plan to arrest the killer goes awry, and Jonas mistakenly shoots Erik. The suspect escapes, and a frightened Jonas pins Erik's death on the fugitive. Jonas continues to pursue the killer as he seeks to protect himself; however, his mounting guilt and the omnipresent sun plague him with an insomnia that affects his sanity.

A rich but disliked elderly man invites his relatives to a family reunion at his home. Once the gathering is complete, he announces enigmatically that he intends to change his will before he dies. Before he can do this, he is murdered. His niece (Gynt), a detective story writer, has to put her theories into practice by solving a real-life murder mystery.

A famous mystery writer uses his own plot tricks to murder a blackmailer in this British thriller.

A portrait of Swedish crime writer Stieg Trenter (1914 - 1967), born Stig Johansson, he started out by using the name Stieg Trenter as pseudonym but soon changed his name to this in real life as well. His first novel was "Ingen kan hejda döden" ("No One Can Stop Death"), published in 1943.