I had heard only good things about this book, but it seems this year I'm not being lucky with my readings.

In no particular order, the things that bugged me the most were:

1. This is a murder mystery novel, so there are clues the protagonists investigate to resolve it. The only problem is Läckberg tells the reader the clues after everything is resolved. Yes, the reader is excluded from the investigation, i.e. the fun of this kind of books.

2. There are blatant timeline mistakes. For example, check the dates when Patrik Hedstrom interrogates Dagmar Petren (the old lady who made cakes). Suddenly, it's two weeks earlier.

3. I'm convinced this was romance disguised as mystery. I don't really need to know how Erika and Patrik made love for five times because they are on the "bingo phase" of their relationship. Indeed, I would love if I had never read "bingo phase". Half of the book is spent in these silly things I don't want to read about. Else I would have chosen Danielle Steel!

4. Women. I can't believe this was written by a woman! Every woman in the book was completely dependent on men, did everything to please some man in her life and their hardest worry was to have a fine make-up in every occasion. Don't expect to find a strong-willed, intelligent and independent woman in this book. Except maybe the old Dagmar Petren.

5. "What kind of detective is Patrik Hedstrom?" That was the question that came to mind when I read Patrik, after looking for a long time to Erika, always sees her perfect in every detail and finds wonderful she goes out without make-up, un her ex-wife. Of course, Erika always has tons of make-up on and half the times they see each other she's just put on the first items of clothing in her closet. You could attribute that to being in love, but it just seemed Patrik was stupid.

6. Of course, point 5 might just be the result of Läckberg lack of talent for writing. That might sound harsh, but Läckberg's characters were out of her control. She described everyone in a very wordy way which was pointless, since the characters really weren't as she wanted them to be.

7. It took me forever to read! And I had been hoping for a page-turner.interlibrary-ownership read-in-2010357 s1 comment Pattie O'Donnell323 30

TONS OF SPOILERS TO SAVE YOU THE EFFORT OF READING THIS HORRIBLE BOOK: Could this be worse? We have one family that runs a town and the 100% evil, snooty aristocratic mother with TWO sociopathic sons (one natural, one adopted). The natural one rapes both boy AND girl children. The adopted one sets fires and commits fratricide before the age of 12. There's a 100% piggy grope-y police chief without redeeming qualities. There's a 100% piggy, grope-y brother-in-law without redeeming qualities (he practically twirls his non-existent mustache). The murder victim is one of the most beautiful women who has ever walked the earth, and she's not only secretly pregnant, but had been secretly pregnant before (and is that her earlier spawn lurking around her parents' house, sulking, perhaps? What a surprise!)

The focus of action shifts without explanation from the first main character (a decently sketched-out Brigit Jones- woman) to a second main character (a decently sketched-out young detective, who has always been in love with the first main character). Several times at the end of a chapter, one of these folks finds a Clue, reads it, is surprised, and puts it in their pocket without sharing with the reader. The detective is credited as being very clever for finding the impression of a note that's been torn off a pad (yeah, good going, Sherlock). The author conveniently finds a will crumpled up in the evil family's trash can (what, shredders haven't made it to Sweden yet?). All the participants in an earlier murder conveniently keep little bookmarks inscribed with the initials of their childhood "gang" name in plain sight for the author and detective to find.

At some point, I decided to keep reading only to see what fresh stereotype or abomination waited on the next page.

On top of all the bad characterizations and dopey plotting, bad writing abounds. You can't blame the translation, because the guy translates Henning Mankell, and Mankell's gorgeous writing comes through in English just fine.

The only pluses were the two surprisingly likable and 3-dimensional main characters, and the vivid setting off- season at a seaside resort town. Plus a lot of careful, interesting and varying descriptions of the coffee people brewed. If the author could write a mystery the way she writes about coffee, this might have been a decent book.This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full reviewmystery103 s Carolyn2,397 669

I think there must be something about the Scandinavian winter that just makes murder mysteries darker and more atmospheric and this one, first in Camilla Läckberg's Fjällbacka series is no exception.

Erica Falck, a writer has returned to Fjällbacka after the death of her parents to pack up their belongs and decide what to do with their house. An old childhood friend, Alex Wijkner has also recently been spending some weekends in her old house but just after Erica arrive, Alex is found dead in an icy bath tub with her wrists slashed. The police investigation into whether Alex's death was suicide or murder uncovers secrets kept for decades and some terrible truths about the past.

The novel was a little slow and not as lean as it could have been. The police seemed to miss some important clues and fluff around in the dark a bit too much, and at times it became more cosy mystery than psychological thriller. I felt that Superintendent Mellberg was not convincing as a real character and hope he does last too long in the series. However, I did the two main characters Erica and Patrik, the young Detective and hope to see more of them in the future.2018 around-the-world murder-mystery80 s Lyn1,917 16.9k

First published as Isprinsessan in Sweden and in 2004, I read and enjoyed the English translation by Steven T. Murray published in 2010.

Lackberg’s prose is spirited and fresh and her contribution to the Nordic Noir genre of crime fiction is well stated. Telling the story of an unusual murder in the Swedish village of Fjällbacka, with some interesting twists and turns, the author’s greatest achievement here is her crisp characterization and filling the narrative with a cast of colorful players and some attention-grabbing sub-plots. Most notable is her exploration of themes of family, loyalty and the nature of propriety in a small town.

The one failing here, and it is relatively minor, though, is that as good as her characterization is for the most part, some of the antagonists are strawman caricatures with one dimensional fronts and the inconsistency can be distracting.

All in all a good murder mystery that is wrapped up tidily with a satisfying end. Also enjoyable was LackbergÂ’s introduction of two very likable protagonists and the start of a good series.

76 s ? Sonja ?3,405 524

4,5 Sterne
Der erste Band dieser Reihe startet mit einem eher ruhig erzähltem Fall. Der Fall an sich ist aber wirklich spannend und das Ende bzw. die Auflösung auch recht dramatisch. Der Weg dahin ist eher gemächlich, die Spannung nicht vordergründig. Ich fand die Geschichte dennoch richtig gut und auch fesselnd, und ich war neugierig, wie sich das alles zum Ende hin entwickeln würde.
Auf jeden Fall ein sehr guter erster Band, der Lust macht, die weiteren Bücher dieser Krimi-Reihe zu entdecken! 202382 s fleegan279 32

I’m shocked. The cover of this book boasts that this is an international bestseller. The back of the book says, “Ice-cold suspense from Sweden’s new Agatha Christie.” This book was not very good. Normally I’d say that maybe there was something lost in translation, but I don’t think that’s the (whole) problem.

And now a list of grievances:

1. It seemed all the characters who were good guys were pretty/handsome. And the bad guys (or people you were supposed to dis) were fat and ugly. There was this oversimplification that just felt lazy.

2. There was a subplot (EricaÂ’s sisterÂ’s drama) that was never completed. Maybe thereÂ’s a sequel? Even still, there should have been SOME kind of mention at the end about it.

3. When one of the characters found a clue (Erica or Patrik) they would find it (in a trash can/drawer/whatever), look at it all, “A ha!” and then move on WITHOUT TELLING THE READER WHAT THE FUCK THEY JUST FOUND. This happened three times. Now, I’m not a mystery author, but I know the damn rules. In fact, you’re probably not a mystery author either, and I bet YOU could even make a guess at some of the rules, yeah? One of the rules is No Evil Twins (unless of course the Evil Twin is made known at the beginning). Another rule? Only One Secret Passage. This book had neither secret passages nor evil twins, but it DID break the rule of When the Detective Finds a Clue He shares It With the Rest of the Class.

Now look, IÂ’m all for breaking rules. You want to use an evil twin at the end? Go for it. No one will ever take you seriously again, but go for it. You want more than one secret passage? Fine. It worked for Clue, didnÂ’t it? But I swear on a stack of Edgar Allan Poe books, if your detective finds a clue, and you donÂ’t tell the reader what the hell it even is until much later? ThatÂ’s bush league. That is hack. That is insulting to the reader and I have no idea why this book was an international bestseller.

4. This book had the slowest pace of any crime fiction IÂ’ve ever read. A slow pace doesnÂ’t have to be bad as long as the story, characters, events are compelling. In this story nothing was compelling.

5. The love story fell flat. I appreciated that there was an almost normal love story going on in the book. But it didn’t add anything to the book. (This is different from most of the Swedish crime fic and it’s desolation and despair.) So I was rooting for the love story, but it, the character studies (from Grievance #1) seemed too easy and therefore came across as lazy. Plus, they have sex 5 times in one night just in a boddice-ripping romance novel. But without all the steamy details, which is fine because hey, it’s a mystery, not erotica, however, when you write something that and give no steamy details but you’re all, “then they did it! , 5 times!” it’s it’s written by a 9th grader or something.

6. There was a part where something may have been lost in translation, but not in a, “that sentence makes no sense.” kinda way, but in a, “I think they left out a whole paragraph somewhere.” This big reveal is going on about the lady who was murdrered and her past. It was very important to the story. Then the detective is all, “I’m shocked she had been pregnant before!” and see, the problem is, not in any previous part of the book was this mentioned, nor was it mention in the preceeding paragraphs, where, i think, a paragraph or two must have been left out. because his declaration just made no sense, nor would he have known about her previous pregnancy if he had not just heard it from the character who was telling of the murdered girl’s past. What a piece of shit.

Sadly, the book was slow and boring. And because the clues were withheld and paragraphs of info seemed to be totally missing, I have to call this a disaster. Perhaps itÂ’s a much better read in itÂ’s native tongue?This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full reviewscandinavian-crime-fiction64 s Beatriz886 810

No es una obra maestra del suspenso, pero logró mantener mi interés y la intriga por saber quién era el asesino. Además, mezcla varios otros componentes que rondan el entorno de Erica, la protagonista, como la relación que nace entre ella y uno de los policías encargados del caso y la violencia intrafamiliar que sufre su hermana (que a mi parecer no quedó suficientemente resuelta).

Me gustó el estilo de Camilla Läckberg y la forma en que va presentando los acontecimientos, por ejemplo, el hecho que los primeros indicios de la investigación nos los traspasara Erica, quien había sido amiga de la infancia de la víctima y que además fue quien la encontró muerta, para luego, pasada la mitad del libro, la batuta la lleve Patrick, el policía que está investigando el caso. Otro recurso que usa mucho la autora es comenzar un capítulo sin aclarar de quién se habla hasta pasadas las primeras líneas o que no se traspase inmediatamente al lector algún descubrimiento que hacen los personajes; esta fórmula que en otros libros me ha molestado mucho, aquí se presenta ágil y forma parte del rompecabezas que hay que completar.

Sí reconozco que la novela tiene algún que otro fallo, pero son detalles que no afectan a la trama y que quedan más opacados aún frente a una excelente descripción del lugar y la pequeña comunidad que lo habita.

Por último, advierto que no es un thriller repleto de acción, por el contrario, es un libro bastante pausado, que apuesta a que el lector vaya atando cabos junto con los protagonistas para descubrir al asesino.63 s Raluca169 88

This has to be one of the worst mystery novels I've read so far. In fact, I'm not even sure if it's supposed to be 'mystery'. More 'character discovers x clue, reader is not told what it actually contains, character suddenly reveals it much later on in a really dramatic, Scooby-Doo fashion'. And this happened throughout all the book.

Then there was the narrative. In the beginning, I thought it was a translation issue. Verbal tenses seemed inconsistent, there was some really awkward phrasing, a lot of events seemed to be mentioned more than once without adding anything. But no; that was simply the style of the writer. Dull and repetitive. Sometimes really irrelevant descriptions of places, situations or characters were made. Sometimes those descriptions were retold, just because.

Then there were the characters themselves: extremely flat and boring. No spark of intelligence whatsoever (except maybe the old lady with the garden gnomes), no self respect in any of the female characters, no improvement, no complex way of viewing life. In fact, all characters seemed to be tired, bored and exasperated of living itself. Sometimes the description of the narrator or of one of the other characters would go on saying that X or Y was this and that, when in fact, X or Y would be way too simplistic of a character to be able to hold onto such an image.

As for the mystery itself: once you had all the clues (and boy, was there a problem with them being revealed), it was really logical and dull. No surprises here; no intricate puzzle; just event A leading to event B.2012 disappointment ensemble-cast ...more57 s Kaceey1,247 3,952

Following the death of her parents, Erica Falck returns home to Fjällbacka, Sweden. Not long after, she’s shocked after discovering the body of a childhood friend. Was it a suicide? Or murder?

Because Erica is a writer by trade she’s drawn into finding answers. Working along-side Detective Patrik Hedström, Erica will soon uncover some long buried secrets.

IÂ’ve been discovering some amazing Scandinavian thrillers lately, enjoying listening to the audio versions. It allows me to close my eyes and instantly travel abroadÂ… avoiding the long lines at the airport!
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