I'm happy with this book. One that was really old fashioned Swedish (Nordic) crime.
Family matters, murders, a hazy past, all ingredients in a case that needs to be solved.
Liked it a lot and I look forward to reading the next one! ( )

Östlundh may be new to the American crime scene, but he's an established crime writer in Sweden, where his series featuring Fredrik Broman has already enjoyed success. This novel is a police procedural which also tries to be a psychological study; as a police procedural it's pretty good but otherwise it comes off sort of flat. When the Visby cops (with whom Broman works) are doing their job it's quite interesting; otherwise, it's a bit confusing, incomplete and rather so-so.

There are two main stories at work here. As the novel opens a helicopter is landing at a hospital, its patient none other than Fredrik Broman himself. He has sustained terrible injuries that will keep him hospitalized for some time. That storyline is interspersed with the investigation that ultimately put him there, as the police are called to the scene of a double homicide. The female victim is Kristina Traneus, wife of Arvid, who is returning to his life in Sweden after a number of years away as a corporate "annihilator" in Japan. Kristina was not at all happy about Arvid's return; it seems that while Arvid has been gone, she had taken up once again with her former lover (and Arvid's cousin) Anders. But the question on the minds of the detectives is that of the male victim's identity -- who is it? His identity has been virtually wiped out after having been attacked in a frenzy with some sort of very sharp blade, and the police are left to wonder if it was Anders, Arvid or even a third, unknown party. During their investigation, the police pick up clues about Arvid and Kristina's family life, which, according to everyone, was all but happy -- including the death of a daughter some years earlier, something "hush-hush," which "may have been cancer, or else something psychological that made her commit suicide."

While the central mystery behind the identity of not only the killer but the victim is solid, keeping the reader interested enough to keep reading on, the characterizations leave a lot to be desired. Chapters move quickly, and each character plays a part in moving the story along. But therein lies the problem: considering that the story moves via an omniscient narrator between the viewpoints of different characters, you'd think the author would have put much more effort into careful character construction. Sadly, with the exception of Arvid and Kristina, the others come across as less than credible, especially when the author tries to delve inside of their respective heads. And I'm sorry -- but why do we need a high-class prostitute talking to Arvid's penis before performing oral sex in the very first chapter? I hate when authors do this.

I would love to read his other work to find out if this one is an anomaly among the other series novels; normally I would chalk this up to the problems often found in series' first novels, but this one is the fourth. To be fair, I was interested in the main murder plot, and I was interested in the story of the dead sister, but the latter had to be guessed at, pulling in clues here and there as the story progressed, ultimately to be somewhat disappointed. And to be even more fair, this book is getting a number of great reviews, with people comparing the author to other masters of Scandinavian crime fiction. ( )

I liked this book even though every book that comes out of Sweden is being compared to Steig Larson. Actually the only resemblance is another dysfunctional family, and we all know there are several novels with this as a basis. Pacing was a little slow in parts but I did enjoy the story. Look forward to reading more of this series. Actually I think this is the fourth in the series, now have to go and see if the other three have been translated in the US. ( )

Just when you think they can't possibly add another wonderful author to the overflowing buffet of Scandinavian crime fiction, better plan on going back for seconds, or even thirds.

Responding to a house-cleaner's call, two people have been killed. The woman who resided there and an unidentifiable man, presumed to be her husband, recently returned from Japan. It's the story of how life can go wrong living in a small community, where growing up with outward appearances not matching the reality of a dysfunctional family life leads to heinous consequences. Maybe it's the isolation, or one man's seeming attempt to control everything around him, but it's up to detective Fredrik Broman to put the pieces together.

This is a novel filled with a lot of wonderful characters, both real and flawed, coping with a harsh landscape and even harsher peoples. The police aren't innocent of rushed speculations, missing pieces of evidence due to theories based on supposition, and it's comforting to see they don't get everything right all the time. Through many man hours and determination the pieces eventually fall into place as the investigation moves towards a close.

The only disappointment was learning that this is actually the fourth book in the series, first one printed in the States. Now I either need to begin studying a foreign language or wait patiently for the previous books to be translated. ( )

I was lucky to have received a free copy from Goodreads. I really liked this book, a who did it double murder mystery with twists along the way. ( )