No, that isn't a mistake in the title. The author, as you can see from the above photo, used all lower case letters. I'm honestly not sure why. This author is new to me, from Sweden and apparently this is the first book in a series that features a female detective.
STORY SUMMARY
In Uppsala, Sweden, a jogger comes upon a dead body in the snow. The members of the police squad discover that it is John Jonsson, also known as "Little John". He's known to have a troubling history, particularly in his teen years, yet today is a respected family man, married to Berit. They have one son, Justus, a 14 year old teenager who is quiet and well mannered. John is considered an expert regarding tropical fish, particularly the type called "the Princess of Burundi". He has several fish in a large, expensive aquarium in his home. Has John's troubled past finally caught up with him??
Inspector Ann Lindell is out on maternity leave, yet is drawn into this case. She is determined to find John's murderer. He has been stabbed to death according to the autopsy report. Ann is led to a deadly confrontation with a treacherous killer. She needs to decide to take a risk that could lead to even more dead bodies. Meanwhile, a local woman is attacked in her own home for no apparent reason and another man is found dead, along with a police officer, who tries to subdue a suspect.
What happens?? How is the local "crazy" man Vincent Hahn tied into this murder.....or is he?? Is this a case of a bully who grew up to get revenge on fellow classmates, or are these events unrelated??
Read the story to find out!
MY THOUGHTS
This book was a little bit slow to start but once I got to chapter 2, it began to take off. I liked that it was set in Sweden and that the bleakness of the setting set the tone for the plot. It was very well developed, both in setting and with the characters.
There are basically two plots going on yet the reader won't get confused...they seem to tie together until you discover what is really going on.
This book interested me enough that I might look for the author's other books featuring Ann Lindell.
Some themes running throughout this book include: childhood physical and emotional abuse; alcohol addiction; single parenthood; poverty; the marital relationship; life struggles.
The book sometimes appears to plod along but this only made me think that the lives in the book were doing just that: plodding along with their lives until someone is terrorizing the small town. There are no wild or gory scenes and the language is clean compared to other novels of this genre.
In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 17 and older (due to some mature content).
On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this an 8.
2 comments:
I enjoyed your book report Faithe, you share enough details to pique the reader's interest. Excellent!
I haven't picked up a mystery in awhile. Maybe I'll pick this one up at the library.
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