Rolf Börjlind

On a remote island in northern Sweden a woman is buried on the beach up to her neck. A young boy watches as the water threatens her and when those responsible for her condition disappear he runs home. A couple of decades later police trainee Olivia Rönning chooses the unsolved cold case of the purposefully drowned woman as her summer project. At the same time an alarmingly brutal series of attacks on homeless people is being investigated.

Perhaps not surprisingly, given they’ve been show more responsible for televising both the Martin Beck novels and Arne Dahl’s A-Unit series, the husband and wife writing team behind SPRING TIDE have produced a novel with a strong ensemble cast for their debut. Although there is not a single team responsible for either investigation Olivia is never a lone investigator, instead joined by current and former officers so that the story can unfold far more credibly than it could if left in the hands of a student. One of the few upsides to long books (this one is nearly 500 pages) is that good authors at least use the extra words at their disposal to develop their characters well and the Börjlind’s have definitely done that here. Olivia is surprisingly engaging for a 20-something (yes my prejudice is showing through there) and the depiction of her learning the tips and tools of her future trade is a good one. She is in danger though of being overshadowed by former policeman Tom Stilton whose back story is simply fascinating but I shall say no more on that issue for fear of spoilers.

There’s no getting away from the fact that the story here is pretty complicated – there are threads within threads and all manner of crossovers – but I didn’t find it difficult to follow and everything that needs to be is resolved credibly. There probably could have been one or two fewer dead ends without impacting the whole too much (except reducing the page count a bit) but I have to admit that even for someone endlessly griping about books that are too long this one doesn’t actually fit that category in that there are not huge chunks I could identify for the red pen. And it must be said that the story is totally compelling (nails may have been bitten) and the authors kept me guessing on several fronts right to the end.

Again following the tradition of the best Swedish crime novels SPRING TIDE does explore some social themes, though perhaps not with quite the same depth of Mankell, Sjöwall and Wahlöö or even Liza Marklund. Nevertheless the treatment of homeless people in modern Sweden is certainly front and centre and there are some not so subtle digs at the wealthy and their behaviour.

Not that I need another one but I’ll definitely be adding this series to my must follow list after this excellent first instalment from the writing duo. Actually it’s a trio if you consider as I do that their translator Rod Bradbury has played an equally important role in bringing the book to life for English-speaking readers. I’m always particularly impressed when even humour flows well, as evidenced by this passage in which Olivia is talking to one of the local women who was interviewed at the time of the murder

‘And then they interrogated everybody on the island and you can be sure I told them what I thought had happened.’
‘And what did you think?”
‘Satanists. Racists. Some sort of -ists that was fur sure, that’s what I told them.’
‘Cyclists?’

Translating linguistic humour from one language to another must surely garner extra credit.

If you’re after an intelligent, fast-paced procedural with loads of twists and terrific characters then you really ought not go past SPRING TIDE. show less

As always in this series, the complex story captivated me from the first to the last page.

A prosecutor who was going on vacation with her husband and teenage daughter was killed by a car bomb. Mette Olsäter's team immediately starts looking for the perpetrator. For Mette, this will be the last case before her retirement. Marius, an old friend of Mette's, also works with the team.
The suspicion of terrorist immigrants quickly falls, only Olivia and Lisa have a different opinion. When combing show more through case files, they come across Lukas, who may still have an old score to settle with the prosecutor. Olivia meets him and cannot imagine him as the perpetrator. But the noose around Lukas is getting tighter and tighter.

Meanwhile, Tom is with Luna in Thailand with his half-sister. He's very withdrawn and still can't get over the fact that he murdered someone. One day he meets a woman in a wheelchair who asks him to find a man whose name she does not know but has a photo with one word on it. Tom goes to the north of Thailand in search of this man. He has to overcome many obstacles, gets injured and has to deal with a drug lord.
When he finally finds the man, he realizes that he is a pedophile. Because Tom hasn't been heard from for a long time, not only Luna and his half-sister are worried, but also Mette, Olivia and Abbas.

Soon everyone involved has to realize that the incidents in Sweden and Thailand are linked.

I'm always fascinated how the authors can weave various human and political tragedies/events into an exciting crime novel. This time the focus is on pedophilia and the opium trade, but the Metoo movement has also found a place in it. show less

Spring Tide is a gripping, cinematic crime thriller from Cilla and Rolf Börjlind, the scriptwriters behind Arne Dahl and the Swedish Wallander TV series.

The spring tides are the highest of the year in Nordkoster; the beach will be covered in particularly deep water tonight. Three men on the beach are digging a hole, covertly watched by a young boy. His intrigue turns to horror as he makes out a fourth figure - the woman for whom the hole is intended. Buried up to her neck in the sand, the show more high tide is rapidly approaching. Still screaming in terror, the victim takes her last breath as water fills her nose and mouth - in her stomach, she feels her baby kick. And her waters break.

Twenty-four years later, the abhorrent crime remains unsolved; gruesome violence however is still prevalent after all those years. A gang has been beating up and killing homeless people in parks - worse still, they are filming their attacks and broadcasting them on the internet. The police have their work cut out trying to keep abreast of the crime wave. Olivia Ronning hopes to follow in her father's footsteps and join their ranks in the next few months after she completes her training; she has only one last hurdle to overcome over the summer break, a challenge from her professor to pick a cold case and solve it. Should be simple, she thinks. Little does she know the world she is getting involved in, the danger she faces and the ugly truths she risks uncovering.

A welcome addition to the crowded stage of Nordic Noir.

You can tell the authors have a TV/film background from the tight plotting, myriad characters and short cinematic set pieces in this gripping novel.

Filled with interesting characters; young police trainee Olivia Rönning is a brilliant creation; believable and likeable.

A thrilling story full of twists and turns (pay off was jaw-dropping) but with social issues at its heart I was sorry to finish it but thank goodness the second book, Third Voice, is about to published...yay! show less

Zwarte dageraad van het duo Börjlind is het derde deel van de reeks na Springvloed en De derde stem. Het eerste deel vond ik werkelijk een waar pareltje, het tweede deel was net iets minder overtuigend maar nog steeds goed voor vier sterren. Ik was dan ook benieuwd naar wat het derde deel me ging brengen.

De achterflap liet me een beetje sceptisch achter gezien er sprake was van racistische groeperingen en ikzelf niet erg graag lees over dergelijke onderwerpen. Ik moet achteraf gezien show more toegeven dat het heus nog wel meeviel op dat gebied. De kindermoorden die plaatsvinden zowel in de omgeving van Olivia in Skane en in de buurt van Mette in Stockholm, bezorgden me wel kippenvel. Gezien de zeer jonge leeftijd die de kinderen hadden, denk je wel even twee keer na. Het verhaal zelf gaat dus wel even in op de racistische groepering, maar er wordt van dat pad afgegaan als er een andere link opduikt die iedereen laat fronsen.

De link leidt immers terug naar een ver verleden. Zo raken onze speurders dus verzeild in een oude onopgeloste zaak en vinden er allerhande ontwikkelingen plaats. Toegegeven, sommige stukken zijn misschien toch te toevallig te noemen. Hier en daar vinden er ook dialogen plaats die nogal kort en abrupt zijn en die daardoor niet zo prettig lezen.

Zwarte dageraad zorgt wel voor een verrassende ontknoping en draagt eraan bij dat ik de reeks rond Olivia en Tom snel verder wil lezen. Voor zwarte dageraad geef ik vier sterren.
https://elinevandm.wordpress.com/2023/05/16/zwarte-dageraad-van-cilla-rolf-borjl.... show less