I really appreciate her character building and development. It was such a joy to see one more book in this series, I'm sad to see it end. ( )

Al patólogo forense Lars Pohjanen le quedan pocas semanas de vida cuando le pide a Rebecka Martinsson que investigue un asesinato ocurrido hace nada menos que sesenta años. El cadáver del padre de un famoso boxeador que desapareció en 1962 sin dejar rastro es descubierto ahora en el congelador de un alcohólico hallado muerto. Rebecka acepta involucrarse en el caso, aunque para ello oculte una conexión personal con el mismo.

Sus pesquisas le llevarán hasta el "Rey del Arándano Rojo", el que fuera capo del crimen organizado en la región durante décadas. Un crimen organizado cuyos tentáculos siguen apoderándose lentamente de la ciudad, con una Kiruna que está siendo demolida y trasladada a unos kilómetros para dar cabida a la mina que ha estado devorando la población desde abajo y que la expone ahora a intereses dudosos.

Åsa Larsson, una de las autoras de novela negra más reconocidas por los lectores de todo el mundo, regresa a la ficción con Los pecados de nuestros padres, una novela de una fuerza y una tensión implacables por la que ha recibido el Premio a la mejor novela de suspense de Adlibris, el Premio a la mejor novela policiaca de los Storytel Awards y, por tercera vez en su exitosa carrera, el Premio a la mejor novela negra del año de la Academia Sueca. ( )

last of a series of six murder mysteries centered around Rebecka Martinsson, a lawyer working for the police department in Northern Sweden. Larsson has an unusual style, built around the memories of the past and the connections formed in the present that combine to shape the decisions of not only the suspects but also the townspeople connected to the case. this leads to a rich mix of story that's illuminating to read. i have read them in order, which was useful, as the large cast grows psychologically over time and the reader becomes attached to their continuing stories too, but this is an intricately plotted mystery that was captivating to read. ( )

I have loved this series, and it's hard to know exactly why. The mysteries always take a back seat to the inner lives of the characters, the protagonist behaves in self-destructive ways in spite of being highly intelligent and driven, and there's always a detailed historical backstory that is woven throughout the current crime story, which could drag the pacing down. On top of it, this entry involves boxing, which interests me not at all.

Yet ... I loved it. A drunken hoarder is found dead in his disheveled island house, and his estranged sister is surprised to find a body in his freezer. It's identified as a long-missing boxer who vanished, leaving his young son behind decades ago. The murder is beyond the law because the man died so long ago, it's outside the statute of limitations, but a retired detective agrees to look into it for the sake of the son, who became a distinguished boxer himself. Rebekka Martinsson becomes involved when the grumpy and ailing medical examiner follows a clue she gives him and discovers the drunk had been smothered to death. Then three young women from Eastern Europe who may have been staying at the hoarder's house are found dead, run over and their bodies dumped in a nearby depopulated village.

So there's plenty of plot, but the heart of the story is the interrelationships of the characters, a detective, a retired detective, the prosecutor, the boxer whose father's body is found in the freezer, and the woman who discovered her drunken brother's body. I sighed when Rebekka's dreadful boss came onstage being his usual awful self, but even their relationship gets interesting. If you are reader who mainly reads for the mystery plot, it might be a bit much. But for those familiar with the series who have come to love the characters and the setting - in far northern Sweden, in Kiruna, where the mines that run under the buildings have led to subsidence, making it necessary to relocate the entire city and where the surrounding nature is vividly described - well, it's a treat. I'm only sad that this is, apparently, the final volume in the series.

Rebecka Martinsson! The final chapter!

The illusive, troubled Rebecka Martinsson! Previously a successful solicitor in Stockholm, now she’s moved back to the prosecutor’s office in Kiruna. Rebecca’s living in her grandmother’s old house next door to her uncle Sivving.
Currently Rebecca is having troubles at work. Troubles with her acting boss Carl Van Post, troubles with her friend Police Inspector Anna-Maria, and troubles with her love interests, particularly Kristen Erikkson.
Van Post has relegated her to closing out the backlog of minor crimes—over one hundred and fifty. Something someone without Rebeka’s seniority could easily have done. It’s a pointed move by Van Post!
When a man is found dead in a freezer from a heart attack and its determined the body is that of a man who disappeared over fifty years ago, Rebecka is given the task to clear away it away as the statute of limitations has been reached. Only it turns out the man was murdered. The body is that of a former Olympic boxer who’d disappeared. Then two other bodies are found nearby. The island on which the body is found belongs to the family who’d fostered Rebecka’s mother years ago. A quandary! Does Rebecka declare herself as having a prior connection to the family. No! Because to Rebecka it’s irrelevant, but under Swedish law, Rebecka is seen as being part of that family! Fascinating!
So Rebecka ends up illegally working a case that has far reaching tentacles into the community, hints of thuggery, tax evasion and the Russian mafia. Wow!
Then there’s her relationship with Krister which is a time bomb waiting to go off. Even though Krister is having a steady relationship with Marit, a former gold triathlon winner. Marit is perpetually checking her blog follower numbers and commenting on her and Krister’s social life. Krister is more than uncomfortable about that!
The last Rebecka Martisson novel by Larsson! I’m very sad to see her go.

A Mobius ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher. ( )