A great debut novel a real page turner ( )

A charismatic religious leader is found brutally murdered and mutilated inside the modern church of a thriving fundamentalist congregation in a town in northern Sweden. The sister of the murdered man calls her former close friend, Rebecka Martinsson, in Stockholm, pleading for help. Reluctantly, Rebecka takes time off from the law firm for which she works to head north, just for a few days, to help out her distraught friend. Unwittingly she is drawn into the investigation for the killer.

The ambience of the story--northern Sweden in winter--is very well done, but that’s about the extent of what I found good about the book. The plot--involving fundamentalist fanatics, is adequate but the resolution is hardly believable. The writing does not help, consisting as it does of flat, declarative statements for the most part. The characters are stick figures and basically uninteresting. And to top it all of, there is a gratuitous animal killing that does nothing for the plot except add to the horror; I am rather tired of authors who seem to know no other way for upping tension besides animal torture and/or murder. The good ones know how to do it without using that device.

This is the first of a series that I intend to avoid. ( )

Excellent characters and story. Starts in Stockholm but moves to small town in the north. Very compelling. Characters have issues which keep reader interested and wanting more. ( )

Jævn forudsigelig og kedelig! ( )

Very good. ( )