Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The sweeping third entry in Carlsson's Halland series (after Blaze Me a Sun) follows idealistic Swedish police officer Siri Bengtsson, who's dispatched to the declining village of Skavböke in the late 1990s after the corpse of Mikael Söderström, troubled teenage heir to the region's most lucrative farm, is found in a stolen car. Suspicion falls on a group of local teenagers, most notably the brilliant Sander Eriksson and his loyal friend Killian Persson. As Siri and her weary partner, Gerd Pettersson, probe their suspects' alibis, the looming presence of Mikael's domineering father, Karl-Henrik, complicates their understanding of who might have killed Mikael and why. Their investigation culminates in a catastrophic landslide that upends the village both literally and figuratively. Then, 20 years later, a retired Siri is drawn back to Skavböke when a second murder reopens old wounds that most thought were long closed. Carlsson's evocative sense of place keeps the plot at a steady simmer, and his spare, atmospheric prose and nuanced characterizations more than compensate for moments of narrative murkiness. Devotees of Scandinavian noir will relish this. Agent: Christine Edhall, First Edition. (Dec.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Days before Christmas 1999 in the small Swedish town of Skavboke, 18-year-old Mikael Soderstrum and his friends are partying to celebrate the end of term. Mikael leaves the party around midnight but never returns home. An anonymous tip to the police about a car crash leads them to Mikael's dead body, found in the back of a car belonging to a friend's mother; the cause of death is blunt force trauma. Officers Gerd Pettersson and Siri Bengtsson set out question the partygoers and suspect that they're all lying; however, there's no evidence linking any of them to the crime. When their prime suspect, another partygoer named Killian Persson, dies in a fiery car crash, the investigation falters. Over 20 years later, Mikael's younger brother dies in a manner similar to Mikael, causing police officer Vidar Jorgensson to reopen Mikael's case. He interviews the same cast of characters as his predecessors did in 1999, even enlisting the help of retired Siri. VERDICT Carlsson (Under the Storm) has a knack for psychological procedurals, as his latest proves, with numerous characters and motives to keep readers guessing. A must for Nordic noir and psychological mystery fans.--Edward Goldberg
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
The related murders of two teenagers following a pre-Christmas, pre-millennium party shakes up a southwestern Swedish town where the aftershocks are still felt 20 years later. The first victim is 18-year-old Mikael Söderström, a rich kid who abused a female classmate; he gets his head bashed in. Another partygoer, Killian Persson, is subsequently found dead in the crashed, fire-consumed car of a neighbor. Killian's gloomy best friend, Sander Eriksson, who can't wait to get out of tiny Skavböke to study law in Stockholm, thinks he caused Killian's death by saying mean things to him after catching him in flagrante with Sander's crush, Felicia Grenberg. In a closed-in community where adulterous couplings have led to animosities ("the whole village saw its own reflection in a dark pool"), the town's sole cop, Gerd Pettersson, and her imported young backup, Siri Bengtsson, have their work cut out for them limiting suspects. A massive landslide caused by the detonation of dynamite in the Söderströms' basement intensifies their efforts. Twenty years later, when the now-retired Siri is making cabinets for a living, there's another related murder with grave repercussions. Stolid police officer Vidar Jörgenssen can only hope he will succeed where his predecessors failed in digging up the truth. With all the book's twists, turns, and delayed reveals, the reader may be grateful for the opening list of characters. As with Carlsson's excellent previous efforts, includingBlaze Me a Sun (2023), this "novel about a crime" goes beyond clever plotting to examine Swedish identity, life in a new era, and the ties between living and dying: "Therewas no end, and it was impossible for anyone or anything to cease to exist one day, to be erased from this life." Carlsson's reliance on a familiar trope is initially disappointing, but the book's deep, daring complexity brushes that concern aside. Brooding and brilliant. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
