Viveca Sten Mysteries

Still Waters February group read.

Get your copies now!

Viveca Sten & Sandhamn

From https://vivecasten.com

- Married, with three children, Viveca lives just north of Stockholm.
- She has had a highly successful legal career as a lawyer and until recently held the position as General Counsel at PostNord (the Swedish & Danish mail service), but left in 2011 to focus on her writing.
- Since 1917, Viveca´s family have spent all their summers at Sandhamn where her novels are set.
- Viveca has written several non-fiction books prior to her crime novels.
- Viveca is a great humanitarian and has for several years been involved in the Red Cross Centre for Tortured Refugees. - -- Her warmth and caring has been passed on to her three children and last summer her daughter left for the US to tour with the volunteer organization Up with People.
- She describes herself as driven, stubborn and caring, which is obvious when you meet her, read her books and see all the things she has accomplished in life.

I have my copy downloaded on my Kindle!! Starting it today. : )

Of my 3 local libraries, only one has books by Viveca Sten, and only in Spanish or Italian. I have Still Waters on my Kindle, so I can dip my toe in the water.

Hi Berly.
I saw on your 75-er thread that you included my name in this group read.
Fessing up ~ not knowing I was expected to read 'dans un groupe' ~ I already finished and reviewed the book.
Do NOT go and look! I don't want to spoil anything for anyone.

This thread is now on the group wiki.

I'll wait to begin it until closer to February, but it's on my list.

>4 quondame: Good thing you have Kindle!!

>5 SandyAMcPherson: Well, I expect you read it recently enough to chime in with comments here. ; )

>6 drneutron: Thank you!! (How are you so fast?)

>7 thornton37814: Start whenever works for you.

I'm in! Have downloaded Still Waters to my trusty Kindle.

I'm in, too. I have already read the first four, but I might reread just for fun.

Hmmm. I've started this one, but I may not be able to continue it into February. I'll keep up with the thread though, and I might join you - sorry not to be more precise. All things depend on my mom. (I'm delighted that the early Stens are still cheap for Kindle!)

>9 katiekrug: This is all your fault you know, so I am glad you are in. ; )

>10 Crazymamie: Reread! Reread!!

>11 LizzieD: Hope you find the time to read it with us, but the thread will be here. And if a bunch of us like it, maybe we'll continue!! Sending best wishes to you and your mom.

I'm following along and will start closer to (or in) February

I plan on picking up my copy from the library tomorrow. It's waiting for me.

Okay, I have my copy, the vertigo is on the wane, and I am ready to dive in!!

>15 Berly: Good to hear that you are doing better, Kim. The book was really good. I finished it this morning.

>16 Familyhistorian: Awesome! Please post some thoughts here while it is fresh in your mind. You can hide them if they are too revealing and then we can read them later when we catch up. Maybe put the page or chapter as a heading...

For those of you who don't know how to hide your post, put the word "strike" in-between the greater than and less than signs at the beginning of what you want to hide and then "/strike" between the symbols whenever you want to finish hiding.

Oops! Don't use "strike"!! Use "spoiler"

>18 lauralkeet: Thank you Laura for catching my late-night brain cramp!!

Hey Kim, I'm glad to see you're on the mend and ready to dive into your first Viveca Sten.

FYI, the "strike" tag will put a line through your post (like this), but if you really want to hide it, put the word "spoiler" between the greater and less than signs at the beginning, and "/spoiler" between the symbols at the end (like this).

I'll be jumping in as soon as I finish my current read.

>18 lauralkeet: Okay, so it was late. That's what I meant! LOL. I am adjusting the post....

>19 katiekrug: Yay!!

>17 Berly: Will do as soon as I get to the write up for my thread. I'm behind on reviews once again. Thanks for the spoiler instructions.

I'm in as well. Always looking for a new mystery series to get into. It's downloaded on my Kindle and will wedge reading it in between finishing Beneath a Scarlet Sky and The Starless Sea

I'll begin soon. Trying to finish a couple library e-books first since they have due dates. Hoping to finish one either at lunch or tonight.

I plan to start it at work this weekend

I've started and it's reading well.

I suspect I'll begin it sometime this weekend.

Count me in too. I started reading the book a few days ago and enjoying it so far.

I'll start it this weekend, too, once I finish my current read.

Wow!! Look at all these people here. : )

I've started reading and so far so good. I hadn't realized Sandhamn is a real place. I looked it up, and it looks absolutely beautiful!

>30 katiekrug: I have figured out how to mark places on my Kindle this time round!! From p. 169: "...among the finest stretches of sand in the archipelago. There was a reason the real name of the island was Sandhön, or Sand Island, although most people these days called is Sandhamn. It was one of the few island sin the Stockholm archipelago that didn't consist mainly of rocks."

Sand? Did someone mention sand?

Why, yes! I did.

Tell us a sand/beach story or where your favorite beach is...

; )

I'll get us started...

So, on my honeymoon, on our very first day at Club Med on St. Thomas Island, I thought I was a widow.

We got there in the late afternoon and the orientation wasn't scheduled until after dinner, but figured we were good to have a swim in the ocean beforehand.

So, we ran in and swam out a ways. It was quiet and beautiful. The water was warm, the waves were gentle, the sun was shining. After a bit, I started to head back to shore and when I was about halfway there, I heard a boat motor.

I turned around to look and saw a boat with a water skier behind it....aiming directly for my husband. There was only the driver in the boat with no lookout passenger and he was driving forward while looking back over his shoulder at the skier behind.

The skier saw my husband in the water and tried to signal the driver away, but she couldn't get him to understand. My husband was waving frantically in the water. I was screaming.

Nothing.

So the skier finally let go of the rope hoping the driver would slow down and turn around to come back and get her, missing my husband.

Nope.

I watched in horror as the boat continued straight ahead, running right over the spot where my husband was.

I began sobbing, convinced I was a widow.

Several long seconds later, my husband surfaced.

We had no idea that we chose the water skiing instruction area to swim in. There were no signs. My husband later told me that he kept hoping the driver would see him, but realized he was going to have to dive to avoid being hit. He could feel the pulse of the motor on his feet as he swam down. It was that close.

For the rest of our honeymoon, we got free drinks, extra money to gamble with and the best tables at all the restaurants.

And we are still married 28 years later. : )

I'm 1/3 of the way in and finding it easy reading. I like Nora and think her husband is a jackass :)

Beach story:

My husband grew up in South Florida, on the Atlantic side, and was used to the gentle, bathtub-like water. The first time he came to Cape Cod, where my family went every summer, he was all excited to hit the water. We went to Nauset Beach, set up our things, and then he went running down to the shore and straight into the water. And started shrieking. Apparently, he was not expecting the North Atlantic in June to be much different from what he was used to :-P He then got knocked over by a wave and got scrapes all over from the rocks and broken shells as the water pushed him back toward the beach. My cousins and I still tell that story, complete with high-pitched shrieking and "ow, ow, ow" which he kept saying all day.

>34 katiekrug: Poor guy. And now he has that story to live down for the rest of his life!! LOL

I am thinking their marriage is doomed. The only question is, will it be in this book or a later one? ; )

Additional comment--This is just me musing and it should come as no surprise since she starts making comments in like the first 30 pages of the book! Only time will tell. ; )

>35 Berly: - PRobably not this one because these things are always dragged out in series!

I’m about half way and really enjoy this. I may be able to finish it at work tomorrow or Monday

Is it wrong of me to hope that Norah leaves her loser husband, or should I be hoping he realizes what he has and becomes less of a dick?

Beach story:
Before Nate and I moved to Nova Scotia and we had all these ideas of living near the ocean and talking long walks on the beach together. Little did we know that we were moving to an area that was all rocky shores and the Atlantic Ocean was so cold that I couldn’t even swim, although our dog Jackson loved it! We were married ocean side in Peggy’s Cove and despite the rocks it was the best location that I ever could have asked for.

>37 ChelleBearss: - I just want her to leave him :)

Yet another beach story.

I had recently moved to LA after college and was hoping to have my little dachshund Piglet live with me. I liked the beach at night and was sitting on the sand with Piglet wrapped in the front of my hoodie. A man approached and Piglet went wild, all 12 pounds of her. The man made a quick exit. Piglet, however declined, loudly, to live with someone who deserted her all day, so I lost my protection.

>34 katiekrug: >35 Berly: I'm hoping their marriage is doomed. I was hoping that would happen in the first book. I do want to know what will happen about her job offer though. I'm hoping she will accept it and not cave in her desire because of her husbands concern over her because of her close call.

I've read the first four books so I'm just lurking in this conversation and really enjoying those spoilery bits. It's funny how the lives of the characters can sometimes take precedence over the mystery isn't it? Nora is a great character.

>41 lauralkeet: Me, too, Laura! And I agree.

>41 lauralkeet: and >42 Crazymamie: - I find myself not caring much about the mystery itself, which seems to be getting needlessly drawn out. How many team briefings can one sit through where the same information is presented and nothing happens?

But I do really like the characters, so I'm enjoying the read.

I finished yesterday and really enjoyed it! I love both Norah and Thomas and can't wait to read more about them. I will buy the next book and keep going with this series

I finished it this morning and will come back to share my comments when I put them on my thread. Short version: I'll read the second one, but I hope it's a bit stronger.

Still Waters by Viveca Sten

This is the first in a series of mysteries set in the Swedish archipelago (which you should look up on Google Images - it's gorgeous!). The setting and the characters made it interesting, while the mystery itself just seemed to sort of drag on. I also found it stretched belief that someone would report a person falling overboard on a ferry and the ferry company wouldn't even check the CCTV tapes.. There were other details like that that niggled at me while reading. That said, I will read the next one, because I like the main police character, and I need to know if Nora leaves her douche-canoe of a husband.

3 stars

I've just started Still Waters. So far, so good. :) It's a welcome break from some of the others I am reading right now.

I am at least 1/4 of the way through it--maybe a little further. I'm enjoying it. I looked up the exact location of the island on a map and looked at Google Images to find photos of the island. I want to go there!

I've finished and enjoyed it, although as it's the first in the series I expect the others to be better.

I've gone on with the series as I like the characters and books two and three are better so I can see I shall be reading through the whole series - I own up to book 7 but I think there are more than that but not yet translated into English.

>37 ChelleBearss: Even though you can't go swimming there, I am glad it wound up being a perfect wedding site.

>38 katiekrug: And you were right! Not a surprise. LOL

>39 quondame: I am sorry Piglet moved out on you. She sounds like a cutie.

>40 Familyhistorian: To be continued.....

>41 lauralkeet: The characters were way more fun than the mystery in this one. Although I must admit (pats self on the shoulder) that I guessed who the culprit was about halfway through.

>42 Crazymamie: Hi Crazy!

>43 katiekrug: >46 katiekrug: Agreed and agreed!

>44 ChelleBearss: >45 katiekrug: I definitely enjoyed the characters enough to continue on and rumor has it that the books get better, too. Yay!

>47 streamsong: I can only handle light reads right now, so this was a perfect read. Hope you continue to like it.

>48 thornton37814: Maybe we should have a group trip to see the island?!

>49 CDVicarage: Glad to hear #2 and 3 are even better.

I finished reading #1 I want to find out what happens with Nora and her life and Thomas as well. They are likable characters. I think I am saving #2 for March. : )

>50 Berly: To be continued..... Does that mean the group read will continue through more of the series, Kim?

>53 Familyhistorian: I'm game to continue the series.

>53 Familyhistorian: >54 thornton37814: I'm game! I already purchased the next book *grins*

I finished the first one.

I'm hoping Berly will let us know if she wants to continue the series or if those of us who want to do so need to set it up on our own.

I finished it too.
The book was quite exciting and easy to read. The author also has a good eye for details and for her protagonists. Her fate seems to be more important to her than solving the murders, which disappointed me a little.
A few little things also bothered me - The ferry fall and the symptoms of Philip Fahlén were a bit too obviously designed to confuse the reader.

I don't have good beach stories - We love to go for long walks (and good food) along the North Sea coast in spring.
It is wonderful to experience, but boring to tell.

Finished it up in a gulp! I'm definitely in for reading onward.

I also loved the character development and I'm anxious to read more about them, too.

Thanks to those who put their comments in spoiler tags. Perhaps those who didn't could add those tags - so the denouement would be more suspenseful without knowing that Nora survived. I want to hear more of her story, too, since it ended without being resolved.

>58 streamsong: I was a little surprised it ended where it did. I can see either spouse changing their minds--or perhaps Nora getting her boss' job instead.

>59 thornton37814: Oooh hadn't thought of that last possibility, Lori. Of course the last wouldn't solve the problem of her self-centered husband.

>60 streamsong: No. It wouldn't. Lots of ways this could turn out.

I finished the book. Overall it was enjoyable and easy to read. Questions to Nora about her boss during her job interview made me think she may be getting his job instead of the one she was told about. I'll be reading the next book since I want to know what happens with her job.

>62 annushka: That thought crossed my mind too.

>62 annushka: That would be ideal as it doesn't seem like she wants to move so much as she wants to not work under her current idiot boss. It would save her marriage and solve those issues if she got her boss' job instead!

>64 ChelleBearss: - I don't want her to save her marriage. He's AWFUL.

:)

>63 thornton37814:: I don't think her marriage can be saved. Even if she stays with her husband now, it does not look to me like they are on the same page about their roles in the marriage and will have a fight again when similar situation will arise.

Sorry--been under the weather. Haven't even read all the comments here but wanted you all to know I am happy to set up a thread for book two!! Very fun!!

>67 Berly: I wondered what had happened to you. Glad you are back, and I hope you are feeling better. I think several of us want to continue the series. I wasn't sure if folks wanted to do it monthly or every other month, quarterly, or what. I'll go with whatever. I'll just have to order #2 whenever.

>68 thornton37814: Good question, Lori.

For those who want to continue with the series, do we want to read

A) one a month or
B) one every other month or
C) one a quarter?

Let us know!!

I'd be up for A) ... or anything. I may read ahead and just comment on each thread as it's open. I'm not patient when it comes to finding series I enjoy and tend to gobble them up :)

>65 katiekrug: He is selfish, for sure, but I think her scare was pretty scary for him so perhaps we will see him become a better husband in the next book? Or perhaps he has lost her already and it's going to implode at some point. I kind of don't want her to move though because then she wouldn't be around Thomas either.

>69 Berly: I'll go with whatever the majority is. Although I'm participating in several challenges with monthly commitments, at my present reading rate, I can probably keep up. I tend to read mysteries quickly anyway.

I'll abstain from voting, as I'm not sure when the mood will strike to read the next one. I rarely read straight through a series.

I think one every other month would be good.

Finished the book....it was okay, but I don't think I will rabidly read through the series.
Thanks for bringing them to my attention!

>73 Familyhistorian: Good plan.

I like the every other month option. It gives a breather with so many different challenges. This is a series I'll mostly have to purchase, so it also gives a breather to the pocketbook.

>69 Berly: I would vote for every other month with one a quarter as second.

>77 Berly: Okay, let's go with every other month. So, in April we will read #2 of the Sandhamn series, Closed Circles.



I'll get a new thread up later and post the link on this thread.

>77 Berly: April, it is! I'll look forward to it.

Me too!

New thread up for April!!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/318236#

Sandhamn Murders Book #2
Closed Circles by Viveca Sten

Is there a thread for book 3? Shall we just use this one?