As a heavy mist rolls into the Swedish coastal town of Fjällbacka, shocking violence shakes the small community to its core. Rolf Stenklo, a famous photographer, is found murdered in his gallery. Two days later, a brutal tragedy on a private island leaves the prestigious Bauer family devastated.
A town full of secrets
With his boss acting strangely, Detective Patrik Hedström is left to lead the investigation. Tensions rise threatening cracks in the team of officers at Tanumshede police station and pressure mounts as the press demand answers.
A reckoning in blood
In pursuit of inspiration for her next true-crime book, Patrik’s wife Erica Falck leaves behind their three children and travels to Stockholm to research the unsolved decades-old murder of a figure from Rolf’s past. As Erica searches for the truth, she realizes that her mystery is connected to Patrik’s case. These threads from the past are woven into the present and old sins leave behind long shadows.
Comment: The last book in this series that I had read was back in 2018. Between the release of that book and this one we had 5 years, and more than that, I have been waiting for a paperback edition (mostly to fit in the shelves with the others, ohh the struggles of a reader!) which is why only now I'm finally getting into it...
In this story, Erica is trying to decide what new story she could use to write another book and Patrick is back to investigate a crime. Someone killed a photographer who was going to present a new exhibit and only a few days later, another crime is committed at an island. The only apparent point in common is that the deceased knew each other and were part of the same circle, but could it exist any other connection between them? Then, someone gives Erica information that makes her interested in someone from all these people's pasts, and the more she finds, the more complex the cases become. Someone is a murder, but who, and why?
This series by Camilla Lackberg is a favorite of mine. The stories all focus on a crime and the investigation, but we also get to follow the lives of the main characters and the secondary ones in their sphere. It's a very good example of serious elements with lighter ones, with some hint of comedy and angst in the middle. Perhaps, sometimes, the motives/development of the crimes aren't as consistent as they could, but the overall environment fully makes up for it.
The crime investigation mixes up two different locations, the photographer killed in his studio and other people in an island where the majority of the suspects were. At first, it seems the connection is merely a coincidence, but along with the secrets we have hints of as the plot moves along, it becomes very obvious early on that there is a connection. Even more curious is that everyone involved is also linked to a posh artistic club named Blanche, where important or influential people mix up with emerging artists. Some comments make it seem something less innocent is happening, but we can't tell right away.
As the investigation goes on, Erica as a true crime writer, is looking into the interesting case of Lola, someone from the group's past who was murdered with her daughter in 1980. The uniqueness of this case is that Lola was a trans woman and some characters seem to hide something in relation to have been friends with her although everyone praises Lola and how special she was for everyone. I will say that the whole mystery surrounding Lola was intriguing but it comes to a certain point where the clues are just too obvious. Not in regards to details of what happened, but the likely reason why.
Then, more than half way through, a certain information comes to light and the whole web of connections seems to become obvious too. It's still interesting to see the characters find the clues but in terms of crime solving, there were other books in the series which I liked more, at least if I think about the pairing of mystery and character presentation. the process was rather simple, all things considered, and the final revelations still worked out quite well, but there were some plot holes I've noticed while reading that I wasn't fully convinced by the attempted explanation.
Parallel to the investigations - the police's and Erica's - we also get to see what our beloved characters are doing, what are they feelings, where in their personal lives they are at, and these parts are just as great as the main mysteries, because they allow us to think of Erica, Patrick and their friends as people whose lives move on, are not static on the pages and it's almost as if we get to keep getting news on what has been going on. There is an interesting situation related to Erica and Patrick which will only be solved in the next book, which of course I will read when possible (the release is only later on in the year).
The mysteries are both solved, as one expects and while there's this sense of sadness and unfairness behind everything. At the same time, I have to say some puzzle pieces in some scenes aren't done as smoothly and to make them become available to the police and to the reader, the author had to use ways which make the "discovery" fortuitous. This makes some processes look weak, in my opinion.
I was not aware of this series! Now I'm wildly curious--thank you!
ReplyDeleteHello!
DeleteThe series is now on installment #11..... if you like the first, which I hope you do if you decide to read it, imagine what fun it will be to have so many already available!