The Quarry is the third part in Johan Theorin’s series about the island Öland, Sweden during four seasons. This one is about spring.

The quarry is a dark red layer that people used to think was petrified blood from a battle between trolls and elves. It runs through the limestone at the coastline and according to legend it is bad luck to build a house between the trolls in the quarry and the elves at the Alvar.

Despite that a few luxury houses are built next to the abandoned quarry, and they are finished just around Easter.

Characters

We have Vendela and Max Larsson, who make a terrible entrance and literally bump into Per Mörner and his son. The couple is far from harmonious and loving. There are secrets dark as night.

Then there is Per Mörner, who intends to celebrate Easter with his two kids in the old stonecutter’s cottage he has inherited. Per’s father shows up suddenly and without an invitation. The father suffers from a stroke, and if that was not enough his past in the porn industry catches up with him and causes major problems.

The wonderful 83-year-old captain Gerlof Davidsson moves back to his little cabin to experience spring in his old home maybe for the last time. He has a treasure trove. It consists of his dead wife Ella’s diaries, which he after great anguish decides to read. What he reads about is something very strange, even supernatural.

The neighborly politeness disappears rather quickly and is replaced by jealousy and suspicion, and secrets are starting to surface.

Relationships and Drama

It takes a while before the story starts getting exciting. Echoes from the Dead and The Darkest Room were more suspenseful, while The Quarry is more about relationships and the drama surrounding those. Crime novel? Kind of. It is definitely a very good novel. Worth reading? Absolutely.

There is definitely a chance that tourist will flock to Öland. Literary tourists now have another author’s novels to explore.

My parents spent last weekend with my aunt who lives in a small town in northern Italy. My unconscious must have been very jealous, because this past week we have made lasagna, pizza, pasta with salsiccia, chicken and basil and yesterday I made a delicious fennel risotto. I have also spent a few evenings with Gianrico Carofiglio’s book “Reasonable Doubts,” which takes place in the port city Bari in southern Italy.

I have many crime fiction memories from Italy. The summer after I graduated high school I stayed a few weeks with my aunt. That summer I became acquainted with Reginald Hill’s wonderful characters. Several years later I read Jed Rubenfeld’s The “Interpretation of Murder” in the shadow of St. Peter’s Basilica, which also is a very nice memory.

What Italian crime fiction memories do you have?

The Hope of a Brilliant Future Turns Into Disappointments

Book nerd Israel Armstrong moves from London to a small town in the Irish countryside to work as a librarian. After a horrific trip he reaches his destination only to find the library closed.

After talking to the town’s colorful representative he finds out that his position has changed a bit. The idea is that he will drive the local book bus, something that Israel takes as a slap in the face. His budget and pride stops him from turning down the assignment, which turns out to be much more unglamorous that he could have imagined. The book bus have been unused for a long time – buried in chicken poop.

And it gets worse. Israel is staying with a farmer and he has to share his room with the chickens. When the book bus is supposed to get stocked with books he discovers that the library is empty. 15,000 books have disappeared without a trace and as the librarian, it becomes Israel’s responsibility to find them.

A Funny Hunt for Missing Books

The tempo is slooooow and I am frustrated by the characters’ behavior, but I cannot stop listening and it does not take long before the story has a grip on me. The story is not exactly a crime novel, but rather a funny story about different people’s fate. It is a pleasure to follow Israel in his strenuous search for the missing books.

This is Ingrid Hedström’s fifth book about Martine Poirot, that takes place in the fictional town of Villette, Belgium.  Ingrid Hedström is a Swedish journalist with focus on Europe. During the 1990s she lived in Brussels, Belgium.

Disposition

The first part of the book takes place in the past (1983) and involves a murder of a young woman with a bay and is  strongly influenced by the whodunit-genre. There’s a handful of suspects with different personalities, including a young Martine Poirot, who is studying law in Brussels.  The police suspect that the case is linked to the “mother killer” who ruthlessly kills young blonde women with babies.

Part two begins in 1995 (present in the book) as a traditional puzzle detective story with an introduction of a detective. Julia Wastia, the former law clerk for Martine Poirot has just started an internship for a detective agency in Brussels when she gets her first case. After that we get a lot of facts and clues. All together there are three cases to keep track of. The murder in the 1980′s, Julia’s case and a triple murder that Martine is investigating. Of course, all three of them linked to each other …

Tangle of murders and mysteries

In this book I constantly had to flip back pages to find puzzle pieces, and there are lots of them to put together before all questions are answered. When the murderer was presented, I thought, “Oh that´s what I thought!” But then I realized that I actually had suspected all the suspects more or less in various stages of the book. They all have secrets and motives …. just as it should be in a murder mystery!

Almost top score

I like it and strongly recommend that you read this and the first four books in the series, if you have not already done so. However…I thought that the puzzle pieces fitted a little too perfect at the end and that some coincidences didnt´t exactly feel like coincidences. With that said, it was still a great murder mystery!.

The books have been translated in to Danish, German, Czech and Polish. Keep fingers crossed that they will be translated in to more languages!

Photographer: Lars Trangius

Sofie Sarenbrant’s third crime novel ”Rest in Peace” was recently published. She has also written “Week 36” (2010) and “Instead of You” (2011).

Sofie, Welcome to TheCrimeHouse!

How did your writing career start? And how did it happen when your first novel ”Week 36” was published?

It all started when I was pregnant and visited Brantevik, where my parents had bought a summer house. I was walking around this idyllic place and thought about what a big responsibility I was carrying. There are a lot of things to think about when you are expecting a child and I was worried something would go wrong. I tried to calm down by thinking: What is the worst that could happen? It usually has a calming effect, but this time it had the opposite effect. And there was the beginning of ”Week 36.” But it was not until my second pregnancy that I really started writing the novel. Then it took another hundred rewrites and a few years before a publisher finally accepted it, phew!

How long did it take to finish each novel and how much of that time is research and how much is writing time? (I suspect that your research for “Rest in Peace,” which takes place at a luxury spa must have been tough )

It differs a lot: the second novel took a few months to write, then I spent just as much time editing – I have a very meticulous editor, who has many good comments. I didn’t have to do that much research at Yasuragi (unfortunately!), since I’ve been there so many times I know the place like the back of my hand. I did work a lot with police, physicians, etc. to tie the plot together in a believable way. For “Rest in Peace” it took exactly one year from the idea to having the finished novel in my hand.

You have said that it is necessary to be scared person to think of scary scenarios, is that how you get inspiration for your novels? And how does the story grow from the first idea?

Yes, it’s necessary for me – I’m easily scared and I often fantasize about scary events. But terrible events have also happened to people close to me, among other things a murder of a young woman, who had her whole life in front of her. It has affected me a lot. I have spent countless hours thinking about how her relatives can move on from a thing like that. So I collect impressions from different places. An idea can grow in different ways, but I write down everything that needs to happen, day by day, to whom, why it is important to include it, and how it moves the story forward. A crime novel should be exciting all the way through in my opinion. The best thing is when someone says that they couldn’t put my book down, because that’s exactly how I want it to be when I read a book! I have heard Shining-effects about “Rest in Peace” – I can only say thank you!

You have a blog and you are a diligent Twitter user, how important is it to reach your readers via social media?

It’s probably more important for me than for the readers, because during large chunks of the year I don’t have any co-workers, so I love the contact social media offers. Every positive comment encourages me to continue to write novels!

I follow yours and Camilla Läckberg’s communication on Twitter, how important is the interaction with other authors?

He he, well then you must be educated by now, given the literary level our Twitter communication is kept on… Just kidding, I love Twitter, and it was there I came in contact with Camilla, who later became my mentor. It’s fun to keep in contact with authors, friends and readers. I love the accessibility compared to Facebook, where you have to friend someone first. I have created an author page where you can go and “like” and then get updates. And then I have the private page for people I know.

If (or when) ”Rest in Peace” is adapted into a movie, what actors would you see as the main characters?

I have to give my husband a role, given his performance as a victim in the “Rest in Peace” book trailer. But I think Ola Rapace would be perfect as Peter Berg, and I could see Peder Falk as a potential candidate to play the CEO. But I don’t know who I would want for the role of the police Emma Sköld. A beautiful blonde…

You and your siblings all seem to be very creative, how were you encouraged to be creative when you were growing up?

It was more that we had to think of things to do instead of getting everything presented to us the whole time. And maybe that led to us becoming creative. We grew up on a big farm in the middle of nowhere with lots of things to do for our parents, and they were often busy working. But I also think the creativity is in our genes. My grandfather was a chess master and wrote books on chess, and my parents work in media.

What advice do you have to our readers who are aspiring authors?

Don’t give up, be ridiculously patient, and be prepared to fight! I would probably look for an inspiring writing class, where you get to meet like-minded people, discuss the writing process and get advice.

Are you working on a new project? And if so, can you please tell us a little about it?

I will write a fourth novel, where you get to continue to follow Emma Sköld. But so far I am taking it easy with the planning of the novel, I don’t want to force anything. Right now I am the editor for Amelia Baby, but when the magazine is sent to print in the middle of April I will start writing!

Since you interview people for the Swedish magazine Amelia, I would like to know what question you would ask yourself that no one has asked you yet? And also what would your answer be?

Ha, ha, good question! I would ask how it feels to have a successful, beautiful model sister like Tyra, who is running one of Sweden’s largest blogs – am I not a little jealous of her after all? And the answer would be: Why do you think we went to sibling therapy (yes, we have done that!)? All jokes aside – the answer is no. Even though I also have a blog, it is not my main focus, it lies on my writing career instead. I am so proud and impressed by everything Tyra does and succeeds in. So I see her as a source of inspiration instead!

Many thanks for taking the time to answer our questions and good luck with future projects!

This interview was done in Swedish, and the original interview is available on www.deckarhuset.se

The Year of the Dragon takes place in Sweden, Asia and USA during 2012 and during the Vietnam War. It feels like I am reading three novels at once. One is about a murder of a security guard outside IKEA in Västerås, Sweden. Another is about a Vietnamese woman who has a child with an American officer during the Vietnam War. A third is about the attorney Auster Fogg, whose son is killed in the war in Afghanistan. The first two are written in third person, while the third is written in first person. Sure the stories are tied together eventually, but a little late in my opinion.

Still Worth Reading

The author wants a lot with this book, maybe a little too much. I wish that the author actually had written three novels, because all the stories catch my intention individually, but when they are tied together it almost feels forced.

I read the novel the same week I found out that a good friend’s son was critically injured in Afghanistan. It took the war aspect to a whole other level and it was almost too much for me.

Original title in Swedish: Drakens år

Dark Fire takes place in 1540, in the middle of Tudor era in London. Henry VIII has just married Ann of Cleeves but he is not happy. Thomas Cromwell, the man behind the big English reformation, is in big trouble since he is the one that set up the marriage between the king and Ann. He is now desperate to find something that will put him in good favour with the king again and he believes he has found it; Greek fire! Cromwell has seen a demonstration with the legendary substance and was deeply impressed with its powers- and its gruesome possibilities. If he could lay his hands on it, England would have a new powerful weapon against any foreign invader.

Matthew Shardlake is back again with a new assignment- to find the recipe for Greek fire for Cromwell and the King. But he is not the only one. Others are lurking about and when the two men who had the recipe for Greek fire is found murdered then the heat is really on. It’s a race against time, evil forces are trying to murder Shardlake and the King is growing more and more impatient with Cromwell; something that can have dire consequences.

My own thoughts

I was really looking forward to read this book since I like Dissolution so much and I wasn’t disappointed. I actually found it hard to put down once I started reading. It’s exciting and even though it is real history mixed in with fiction some Sansom makes it work. Normally I don’t like that sort of thing because, well history is history and fiction is always fiction. You can’t mix make belief up with reality. And of course, if you know your history then you know what happens with Cromwell and the King. But I must say that history and fantasy is very delicately merged together in this book.

It is exciting and even though it is told from a first person point of view (“I was walking along when all of the sudden…”) it is not difficult to read. Normally I don’t like this kind of style because it can be clumsy and very narrow. The reader never gets to take part of any other character’s thoughts or emotions. But somehow it works and after a few pages I don’t even think that much about it.

Final thoughts

I would recommend this to anyone who likes a bit of history, or detective stories that takes place in an unusual environment. I must add that the scenery is very graphic and you can really see the streets of London and sometimes, unfortunately, you can almost smell it too.

The Thriller Think of a number is, the American author, John Verdon’s, debut book but it doesn’t feel like a debut book. It feels more like book No. 5 in a series and that is good for a debutant. The book has hit big in the U.S. and it just feels very American and i bet it will be a converted in to a movie soon.

Story

Dave Gurney is a retired police detective who has left New York City to a life on the country side with his wife. One day he receives a call from an old college acquaintance. His friend has had a couple of mysterious letters that have alarmed him greatly and so he asked Gurney for help. I will not reveal much more but it is a traditional cat and mouse game with a vindictive serial killer. The story takes place in beautiful New England.

Shifting quality of riddles

As in similar thrillers the story is based on mysteries and riddles that the protagonist must try to solve. I will not get in to details but some things felt really clever and smart but a few things didn’t feel very smart and less credible. Had the author just worked a little more on them, I would have been really excited about this book.

Level of thrill

This is a page-turner but I was a little disappointed.. The main character Gurney feels a little sterotypish (overworked investigators who works to much at the expense of the relationship with his wife) but on the other hand, Verdon gave more depth to the character than many other similar characters in other books.

Summary

This is an OK thriller for those who like stories about serial killers.

For some reason Michael Simon’s books hasn’t been given much attention over here in Sweden. His first two books, Dirty Sally and Body Scissors (named Sweet Virginia in Sweden) where both translated into Swedish. I stumbled across them at my local library and I was absolutely engulfed in them once I started to read. The tone in them is dark and most interestingly; they take place in the 1980’s.

The plot

Little Faith takes place a few later after the events in Body scissors. It’s 1995, in Texas, and Dan Reles (from the earlier books) is assigned to investigate the murder of a former child star, Faith Copeland. Reles is a bit of a “black sheep” in the force; New York born and also Jewish, he stands out in Texas as a cloud on a clear blue sky. He quickly picks up the trail of Faith’s killer. As a former child star, Faith was a troubled girl without a stable income or plans for the future. She had grown out of her “cuteness” and was now an ordinary 16 year old girl.

The story is filled with action and it never seizes to be exciting. It’s not easy to predict what will happen next and as you might now by now I really enjoy that. There are a lot of things that’s going on at once but it’s not too much though. It helps if you have read the earlier books because the events of them play a part in Little Faith.

Narration

What is this? Well, I thought it would be interesting for you to mention the narration in this book since it is very interesting. I’m not sure how many of you think about the narration (which basically is the “storyteller” in the book) when you read. I know I didn’t reflect upon it much before I started to take courses in contemporary literature. The most common narration in fiction is from a third person point of view. He, or she, knows what the characters are thinking and feeling and tells the story without any personal thoughts or emotions. The second most common way of telling a story is from the first person point of view; “I was walking down the street when…” In Little Faith we find both methods which I find interesting. There are chapters told in the third person point of view and then there are chapters where Reles tells his story. I like this combination because it gives character to the text.

This might be unnecessary information but it might be interesting for you who like to dissect the text.

Final thoughts

I really enjoyed Little Faith and I must reread Dirty Sally and Body scissors again to refresh my memory. I also have The Last Jew Standing, the fourth book by Michael Simon, at home and I’m just dying to read it.

The style is rather dark and it reminds me a lot of Dennis Lehane (another author who’s books I really enjoy reading). There is darkness in them, an allusive “noir”. The characters aren’t perfect, they make mistakes and they have a lot of weaknesses. But somehow you sympathise with them.

Updated with a picture!

Helene Tursten is one of several female crime writers in Sweden who have written, or are approaching the 2-digit book number in written books together with Liza Marklund, Camilla Läckberg, Anna Jansson, Mari Jungstedt (to name a few). It’s probably easy to just write books on routine but  Helene has managed to avoid it with this book. This newly released book is number 12 with the character Irene Huss who works as a police investigator in Gothenburg. The books about Irene Huss have been translated into fifteen languages among them are: Italy, Britain, France, Germany, Poland and Spain. All books have also been filmed.

Plot summary

It seems that a new war between two criminal gangs is about to escalate in Gothenburg. At the same time Huss´s family car blows up outside the pair Huss newly purchased restaurant and Irene’s family is suddenly in great danger….

Criminal underworld

Portraying the criminal world is becoming increasingly popular in Swedish crime literature. The Stockholm Noir genre is a new genre that is best symbolized by Jens Lapidus books. The criminal underworld is woven into more ”traditional” police novels more often and more thoroughly. The insight in the criminal  underworld is not as deep as  in Jens Lapidus books , instead the focus in this book is on the people affected by criminal gangs.

Final Score: Helene Tursten – Still going strong!