Åsa Träff

Book Title: "Some Kind of Peace”
Author: Camilla Grebe & Asa Traff
Published By: Free Press
Age Recommended: 18+
Reviewed By: Kitty Bullard
Raven Rating: 5

Review: Every now and again I find myself in the mood for a good murder mystery and when it involves a stalker and obsession it’s even better! The writing team of Camilla Grebe and Asa Traff are no less than amazing. The setting and plot for this story is perfection and I immediately found myself deeply immersed barely coming up for air. show more
Dr. Siri Bergman is a psychologist dealing with dual loss and fears of her own while trying to provide comfort and help to others that have issues deeply rooted into their psyche. When she begins to get disturbing letters and other indications that she is being watched everyone becomes a suspect and she is tossed unwillingly into a psychological nightmare that threatens to jerk her from the fragile sanity of her quiet sanctuary.
This novel is one on par with some of the best thrillers past and present. A true teeth-clenching, heart-stopping work of fiction you do not want to miss! show less

This is the second in the Swedish crime series featuring psychotherapist Siri Bergman and her best friend and colleague Aina Davidsson.

In this book, Siri and Aina along with their old classmate Vijay collaborate on a domestic abuse study. Siri and Aina are to run a trial self-help group that would be led by professional facilitators. This set-up allows the authors to describe, as part of the narrative, the various manifestations of abuse of women, what it feels like to them, and how they show more cope (or not) with it during and after it happens. Furthermore, this plot device allows them to speculate on the motivations for such abuse. Is it solely about power and control? Does any of it have to do with love, albeit in a twisted form? What about the role of women? Are they ever complicit, in terms of “asking for it”? How do you determine who is telling the truth in relationship conflicts?

When one of the cases turns deadly, there is a great deal of pressure to find the answers, because the perpetrator remains at large.

Parallel developments in the private lives of the protagonists who work on these cases (not only Siri and Aina but also their colleagues Vijay and Sven), complicate the investigation, because they too are asking questions about the nature of love, and whether the pain it can create is worth the risk.

This is not just a sociological thriller however; it is also very much a psychological thriller, with an increase in tension that doesn’t let up until the very astonishing ending.

Discussion: The authors do an excellent job. I’ve read other Scandinavian crime novels that embrace the topic of domestic violence, but these authors are better in two ways. One, they focus their descriptions on the feelings elicited by what happened rather than the salacious details, which make unpleasant reading in any event. Secondly, they are never didactic, but seamlessly integrate their concerns into the plot.

Evaluation: This series is better than much of the crime fiction coming out of Scandinavia lately. I love being gobsmacked by a crime novel, and this one does not dissapoint me.

I am especially impressed that it is a collaboration of two authors. The writing is always consistent; I would have never known! (Sisters Camilla Grebe and Åsa Träff apparently write these books via email, each writing a chapter and sending it back to the other to continue the story. It should also be noted that Åsa Träff is a psychologist specializing in cognitive behavioral therapy.)

Moreover, unlike much crime fiction, this series would work great for book clubs. Many issues are raised about the nature of crime and punishment, the situation of women, and the nature of love and relationships that will evoke good discussions (as in fact it did for me and my husband while I was reading it!) show less

This is the first novel of a Swedish crime series featuring a recently widowed young psychologist, Siri Bergman, who helps patients confront their phobias even though she is unable to confront her own. She is afraid of the dark, and drinks herself to sleep every night.

Her best friend and office mate, Aina, consoles her: "Being a depressed, passive failure with phobias can make you a better therapist, damn it. Just as long as you aren’t that way with your patients.”

Siri’s patients have show more troubling issues, but they usually aren't too debilitating. Only one of them ever actually committed suicide. But now, another patient turns up dead - not, however, by her own hand. Not only has she been murdered, but her body was found close to Siri’s property.

Siri has reason to worry; a note found with the body blamed Siri, and Siri has received disturbing signs that someone is watching her. But who would want her dead? And who would know the details of her patients and the particulars of her own life besides her own colleagues?

Discussion: There is a very nice build-up of tension in this book as it becomes clear the killer must be someone known to both Siri and the readers, so that every encounter she has is fraught with disquietude. As the story moved forward I found myself reading faster and faster!

I liked the way the authors managed to integrate explanations of how psychotherapy works, without it sounding false or didactic. They also include, via a discussion with Siri’s friend Vijay who does criminal profiling, some interesting passages on the nature of evil. Vijay contends that evil people don’t exist. He observes: "I think there are evil actions, carried out by broken people.”

Are these actions, then, more forgivable?

Evaluation: This is a promising series. I’ll definitely be reading the next installment. show less

The second novel in the Siri Bergman series, MORE BITTER THAN DEATH, suffered a little from this reader having missed the first book - SOME KIND OF PEACE. It left such a sense of missing out for this reader, that SOME KIND OF PEACE was slotted into the teetering pile of books to be read.

A big part of the reason for that reaction is that Siri Bergman is a tricky character to come to grips with part-way through her story. Not to say that she's not particularly intriguing, strong and show more fascinating, there just always felt like something about her was cloudy / didn't quite add up.

Particularly when you combine her with friend, and colleague Aina and classmate Vijay all collaborating on a domestic abuse study, making for a slight disconnection between character connection and plot acceptance. Particularly as this plot scenario allows the authors to discuss a wide range of manifestations of abuse, as well as victim reactions and coping strategies in a very elegant manner.

Once one of the abuse cases turns deadly, there's further opportunity to look closely at the attitudes towards, and roles of victims in these abusive relationships. Never once does any of this tip over into self-righteousness or overtly "positioned". Rather it remains an exploration, a consideration for want of a better term. It's a very successful way of handling particularly challenging subject matter with sensitivity, without shying away from the fundamental questions that need to be answered.

The fact that this subject is handled in this manner, within a plot that's multi-levelled, that involves the members of the self-help trial group, and the facilitators equally is cleverly done, and it's seamlessly delivered. Often when you're reading something that comes from an author collaboration, you can see hints of the stitching, or different hands. There's none of that here - nothing jars in terms of pace, delivery or credibility.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-more-bitter-death-camilla-grebe-a... show less