So like many people who are fans of Stieg Larsson's Millenium Trilogy, I've been searching for something to fill the void. A friend actually suggested this book to me when - ironically enough - she confused its title with The Girl Who Played with Fire. And as it turns out, this is another excellent Swedish mystery/suspense novel. It was really hard to put this book down! (If it weren't for school and work I probably wouldn't have.)

The story centers around the murder of a teenage girl at what can be best described as a "Halfway Home" for mentally ill girls who are too "disturbed" for the foster care system. The girl is found in the blood-drenched isolation room, with her hands placed over her eyes. All the evidence points towards the newest girl Vicky, who, coincidentally, disappeared the same night. Due to the nature of the murder, Detective Joona Linna, a Säpo officer, is sent to the small town as an observer. The case quickly absorbs him, and he has a hard time separating himself from it. As the search continues for Vicky, circumstances occur which only heightens the suspicion against her. Yet many things still don't fit. Then on top of that, a middle-aged woman and proclaimed psychic named Flora begins harassing the police after she has a real vision that she believes has revealed crucial evidence to the case.

The story doesn't really have a dull point in it. There is constant action occurring pretty much throughout the story. Moreover, it has several twists that would make Shyamalan himself proud. One thing to be aware of, however, when you read the book, is that it IS part of a series. While most of the story can be read and understood as an independent story, there was a lot of backstory to Joona's character that I had a hard time following because I haven't (yet) read the previous two books. But you can put the pieces together fairly well and figure out basically what happened to him.

Something else I wasn't too crazy about in the book, was that there were some story lines and characters that seemed to be either going somewhere, or to be really important, and they actually turned out to go nowhere or to be a little pointless. For instance, Joona finally catches up to Vicky through a friend she had mentioned in a voicemail to her mother. Basically it turns out that this "friend" was someone Vicky met before years she lived in the girls' home, who sold her into sex slavery. Joona is able to save Vicky from these people, but after that, that whole side story is pretty much dropped. This, and a couple of other leads, seemed to hint that the story was going to reveal a lot more about Vicky's past than it did. Because of this, it gave the narration a kind of "ADD", "all over the place" feel. Perhaps this was because they wanted to keep up the "fast-paced" feel of the novel.

Overall though, I would recommend this book! It's a great mystery story, and it honestly leaves you wanting more. ( )

Tyckte inte alls om. Har iofs ingen läslust alls, om det är p.g.a boken eller om betyget är en konsekvens av brist på just lässug kan man ju fundera på. Jag gissar på boken, aldrig tyckt Kepler varit bra. ( )

I read this in English. Quite a great book. I think you could read it alone but you will get more out of it if you read the previous two ( )

I love any book that the team Lars Keplar writes, especially a Joona Linna book. This book delves a little into Joona's marriage as well. It was an exceptionally riveting story. I need to read the next Joona Linna book to see what kind of trouble he stirs up. ( )

A detective with the National Police, Joona Linna is given the assignment to "observe" the investigation of the death of two people in a home for troubled girls. A girl is found, beaten repeatedly and placed on her bed with her arms covering her face (peekaboo style). The home's nurse, Elisabet, is the other victim, found in an outbuilding, beaten to death apparently with a hammer.

Another girl disappears from the home. A girl described as "nice" and never violent, she nonetheless soon is the chief suspect.

As Joona looks into the case he tends to go beyond observing, irritating the local detective on the job as well as his own superior. But he's not the type to let go. He finds out more about the missing girl, Vicky Bennet. She had indeed shown some signs of violence in her past, but nothing that was reported to the police or child protective services. Still, Joona has difficulty believing her to be the killer. There is evidence in her bedroom that she was involved but Joona isn't ready to believe it.

Meanwhile we get to know Flora Hansen a bit. Now in her forties, she lives with her foster parents from childhood, acting as their maid. She is not treated well and one way she hopes to get out from under is by acting as a medium. She holds seances when she can slip away from home to earn money. She knows how to read people and give them what they want.

But then she starts to see things that make her wonder if there really are ghosts.

In time, Joona's investigation spreads out to take in Flora and the pieces gradually start to come together. It's definitely a page-turner, or it was for me, but I haven't been sleeping well anyway!

One thing that bothered me in this time of forensic investigations. Nobody analyzed the blood spatter beyond Joona's informed review from his experience. Nobody measured to determine the approximate height of the killer or the intensity of the blows. These measurements should have given a clearer picture of how the murders happened and who committed them. These days, writers of procedurals need to be on top of forensics! ( )