Mi reviewed “Själakistan” in July and I agree with her – what a fantastic novel!

Kalmar Castle is mentioned in the novel, which I really enjoy, since I, like the main character Karin Adler, love to imagine what the past was like and wonder what people have  touched the same things as you but a long long time ago. If you have been on a guided tour of Kalmar Castle you will also recognize some facts that are revealed in the book.

”Själakistan” has like Ann Rosman’s first novel ”Fyrmästarens dotter” links to the past and the author ties the treads together in a very clever way. I sincerely recommend both novels.

A woman is murdered in a park behind the police headquarters at Kungsholmen in Stockholm, Sweden. As always, Hake becomes responsible for the investigation and this time he not only battles with his boss but also a policewoman from another district. The investigation becomes even more difficult when it turns out that a female judge from the Superior Court is involved.

 “Kungsholmsmorden” (Swedish title, I do not know if/when the novel will be translated to English) by Lars Bill Lundholm is his third criminal novel set in Stockholm. In every novel the turn comes to a new part of the city. If you like Lundholm’s two first novels it is worth reading this one, but do not expect any surprises.

Pan´s Secret

In this book Maja and her partner have moved back to the idyllic suburb in Denmark where Maja Grew up. It turns out it´s not so idyllic any more… Someone kidnaps children, kills them and leave a book mark from the children’s book Peter Pan. One day Maja gets a card where it says “Welcome home Wendy” It seems that the killer have a special interest in Maja that puzzels both Maja and the police.  

This is in many ways a classic cat and mouse game and it is a thrilling novel. My only reservation is that Maja acts irrational. It is a bit too unbelievable that she would put her self in danger so many times, especially when she is pregnant. However I still liked the book as a whole and the twist in the end is great.

I can recommend this book and I believe the first book (Before the storm) also is good. Unfortunately you don´t want to read the first book after reading this, meaning you HAVE to read them in the right order.

On Thursday we will post an interview with the author Michael Katz Krefeld, don´t miss that!

The book is set in the luxurious Monaco. One night a very popular radio show gets a disturbing phone call while broadcasting live. The person ends with the words “I kill…” The next day a famous Formel 1 racer and chess player is found brutally murdered.

In Monaco crime ratings are extremely low and murder just never happens. The Police inspector Nicolas Hulot takes help from his friend the FBI-agent Frank Ottobre who is recovering from traumatic experiences. We´ve seen his sort before. The traumatized, depressed, almost supernatural women magnet. The murderer and his motives are also a bit cliche. This is a book more about two intelligent men who are set against each other then exiting new characters.

Even though the main characters are stereotypes there are some nice descriptions of less important characters. There is a nice portrait of a mentally disabled boy and his mother and an old man with a big record collection.  The descriptions of the locations are also wonderful. You can feel the breeze from the mediterranean sea, imagine all the yachts in the harbour and all the glittering people at the casino while reading this book.

This is a thrilling book with just perfect tempo. Just as things were set on repeat things started happening. The authors also gives one or two surprises. I can recommend this book to all who likes psycopath killers, gruesome murders and an exotic milieu. The book has sold over 3.5 million examples in Italy alone and will be filmed.

The story takes place in India today, and the very friendly Mr Vish Puri s the most discrete private investigator in India. His wife is struggling with her husbands weight problem, and he himself stuffs his face with all sorts of goodies when she is not watching.

In this novel, Mr Puri is solving the case of the missing servant girl. Puri is contacted by one of the most well known lawyers in the country, who has been accused of murdering his young servant. The servant that is missing. In order to free his client from being a suspect, Puri must find her. Mr Puri does not hesitate, he digs into this high profile, and delicate case and start digging.

I would not call this a masterpiece within the genre, more a copy of the great, already working concept introduced to us by McCall Smith. However, the novel is absolute worthy of reading! It is a great document on the Indian society today. Hall is painting a very lively picture with lots of colour and humour. His writing is so good that I can almost smell the kachoris…

My guess is that what the author really is looking for by writing this novel is to drag the problem of political corruption into the daylight and mind of the ”little people”. That he has succeeded to do.

I will with great interest read more by Mr Hall!

We get to follow two Swedish girls from the island of Gotland in the criminal novel The Dangerous Game.

Jenny was discovered by a modeling agency about a year ago and she is now one of the most successful women in the business. Agnes worked for the same agency but lost her contract due to an eating disorder and is currently admitted at a clinic for people with anorexia. It is not a surprise that their lives will cross at some point in the novel, but the question is how.

The fashion photographer Markus gets brutally attacked when he and Jenny are on Gotland for a photo shoot. He ends up in a coma and cannot tell the police about the attacker. When another person in the fashion world gets attacked the police are pressured to find the guilty one quickly before he or she strikes again.

The Dangerous Game is Mari Jungstedt’s eighth novel in her series about Anders Knutas and the police on Gotland. I have read all Mari Jungstedt’s novels and keep reading them since they offer pleasant and relaxing reading. But they are not memorable, and I cannot recall the story in any of her earlier novels. But the novel is definitely perfect reading for the beach this summer.

Original title in Swedish: Den farliga leken

This novel is about Viktor Amundsen, an old  Art Historian from Trondheim on the west coast of Norway born during the pre-war time.

First of all, I must thank the author for the wonderful descriptions of the childhood of Viktors. It is great that Jan Dybdahl allows himself to tell this part through the eyes of a child, and with the language of a child. Brilliant!

Particularely the part about young Viktor and his friend Turid is touching. Especially  the accident of Turids, that Viktor feels responsible for, and that is haunting Turid for the rest of her life. Later on, when Viktors older brother dies in a drowning accident. Viktor is secretly accused of causing it by his sloppyness.

Viktors life consists of a number of incidents which all seems planned by someone who wishes him no good. Someone who knows him too well. I will not dig any deeper into them, just read the book,  but somehow they appear far too unreal to me.

Maybe I am moaning too much, but I do want to get the feeling of “this could have happened to me”, which I by no means do in this case. The criminal intrigue does not hold all the way, I am afraid.

Particularely the part about young Viktor and his friend Turid is touching. Especially  the accident of Turids, that Viktor feels responsible for, and that is haunting Turid for the rest of her life. Later on, when Viktors older brother dies in a drowning accident. Viktor is secretly accused of causing it by his sloppyness.

Viktors life consists of a number of incidents which all seems planned by someone who wishes him no good. Someone who knows him too well. I will not dig any deeper into them, just read the book,  but somehow they appear far too unreal to me.

Maybe I am moaning too much, but I do want to get the feeling of “this could have happened to me”, which I by no means do in this case. The criminal intrigue does not hold all the way, I am afraid.

However – the character Victor does! I like him. I see an insecure, miserable and a tiny bit boring old man closing the books, seaking forgivness. He is 100 % real, as are all the other characters as well.

This novel has given me much to think about, many great passages of writing excellence to enjoy.

SO – what is the overall impression? A good book, worthy of reading, however not necessarily as a criminal novel.

My advice, read this novel, absolutely! But try to see  beyond the not so great criminal intrigue!

The second crime novel by Ann Rosman makes a flying start. An unknown woman is found dead by the sacrifice stone . A body without its head. At the same time, a womans head is found in a nearby garden. Opposite to what you would think, the head and the body is not a  match…

Old tales of Witchcraft and modern RPG , boating and local history. It is easy to pick up on the authors genuine interest in her home village and boating. Just as her debut novel, Fyrmästarens dotter, the story has a light and easy flow. They are also both page turners and no unwanted hick-ups or irregularities stop me from enjoying them. As for Själakistan, the beginning is truly brilliant, and the end is… Well, sorry – that you have to find out for yourself!

The environments and the characters are strong and very real. Beautifully painted. However, the odd person is somewhat loosely sketched, but that is ok too. I have no need to get equally close to all characters.

Well done Ann, yet another success!

A happy family in North Carolina falls apart after 12-year-old Alyssa Merrimon is abducted. The father abandons the family. The mother turns to drugs and alcohol, and an abusive former boyfriend. Despite everything, Alyssa’s twin-brother Johnny never gives up hope and continues to search for her. So does Detective Hunt, who also keeps a watchful eye on the family.

A year later Johnny becomes witness to a murder, and Johnny is convinced the murdered man knew something about Alyssa’s disappearance. The same day a second girl, a classmate of Johnny, disappears. Are they dealing with a serial kidnapper?

The Last Child by John Hart won the Edgar Award for Best Novel earlier this year, and if any of the other nominees are even close to being as exciting as this novel then I may have to read those as well.

The novel brings new twists every few chapters, and it kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end. One horrifying situation after the other takes place, and I barely dared to take my dog out for her evening walk when I was reading this book. That aside, the novel was awesome and The Last Child is definitely a must read!

In addition to the murder investigation we get to follow a family in Sandhamn in the early 1900s, and the chapters shift between the present and the past. Personal relationships play a big role in both stories and it was not surprising that they would be tied together in the end, but even so I could not figure out how the stories were related.

Basically, without Guilt is the third novel by Viveca Sten in the series set in Sandhamn, Sweden. Somehow I have missed the first two, but now I will definitely keep my eyes open for future novels. I have mentioned before that it is common for crime writers to tie the present to historic events and I think the author does it successfully in this novel.

Original title in Swedish: I grunden utan skuld