What at first appears to be ritualistic murders committed by a serial killer turns out to be crimes committed by a jealous husband. Repeatedly, male characters are depicted as threatened by female sexuality and driven by a need to possess and control women. Wilhelm Barli offers the clearest example of this theme since jealousy is his motivation for staging the elaborate murder scheme. During his confession, Wilhelm explains to Harry that he found passionate letters exchanged between Sven Sivertsen and Lisbeth. Wilhelm is primed to be jealous and suspicious because Lisbeth is younger than him and strikingly beautiful. Lisbeth’s history as a successful singer may also make him feel threatened; when Anders argues to Harry that Lisbeth was promiscuous, he uses her musical career as evidence.

The letters confirm Wilhelm’s fears and insecurities: they contain explicit discussion of sexual encounters between Sivertsen and Lisbeth as well as Lisbeth’s remarks about her unfulfilling marriage. Wilhelm is particularly hurt because the letter from Lisbeth was sent only a few months earlier, signaling that the affair is not something that occurred in the distant past. While the pain of betrayal is understandable, Wilhelm’s extreme reaction reveals his entitlement and need to control. He conceals Lisbeth’s body within the most domestic space of their home: sealed within the bed on which the couple slept and had sex. He also substitutes Lisbeth with her sister Toya, replacing her on stage and as his sexual partner. All these actions signal Wilhelm’s desire to assert his control over Lisbeth, even once she is dead.

Alongside Wilhelm, other male characters signal their mistrust and suspicion about female sexuality. Anders makes his partner, Vibeke, uncomfortable by requiring her to be completely still and silent whenever they have sex. He also confuses her with his moralistic views on the sexuality of other women, especially Camilla. Anders’s behavior is particularly hypocritical because it is eventually revealed that he was having an affair with Camilla. Like how Wilhelm rapidly replaces Lisbeth with Toya, Anders judges female sexuality while also treating women as disposable and replaceable. He fears that Vibeke is having an affair with Harry. Even Waaler uses sexualized bullying to intimidate and frighten Beate. The two of them had a relationship prior to the start of the novel, and Waaler sometimes alludes to it when he wants to frighten Beate.

The novel opens by situating jealous rage as an age-old problem; the opening chapter alludes to a century-old crime where a jealous husband believed that his wife had been unfaithful and responded by bricking her up within the walls of their building. The bricking up of the body echoes Wilhelm sealing up Lisbeth’s body within the plastic tomb of the waterbed. Both crimes use the imagery of confinement and constriction to show that the husbands want to keep their wives contained, passive, and completely controlled. By showing that the same types of murders still occur, the novel suggests that a jealous desire to control women remains a significant driver of violence and tragedy.