Status
Call number
Collection
Publication
Description
Fictio Myster Thrille HTML: Crime writer Erica Falck is shocked to discover a Nazi medal among boxes in her late mother's attic. Haunted by a childhood of neglect, she resolves to dig into her family's past to finally uncover the reasons why. Her inquiries lead her to the home of a retired history teacher who had been among her mother's circle of friends during the Second World War, but her questions there are met with bizarre and evasive replies. Two days later the man is brutally murdered in a house he shared with his brother, a Nazi war criminal investigator with the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Detective Patrik Hedström, Erica's husband, on paternity leave with their newborn child, soon becomes embroiled in the murder investigation. Who would kill so ruthlessly to bury secrets so old? The answers may lie in Erica's mother's wartime diaries, but can they find them before dark secrets from over sixty years ago surface to destroy them all?… (more)
Media reviews
User reviews
I haven't read any of the previous books in
There was a nice twist towards the end, something that I never saw coming, and I think the story was well-plotted. It kept me interested throughout, although I did find it slightly over-long.
I haven't been the biggest fan of translations in the past as I think they can often be very clunky and spoil the flow of a book. This, however, is an example of a good translation. Never did it feel that the book had been written in another language, and I was very impressed with it.
This book is a good mix of crime and family life, with interesting characters, and an intriguing historical aspect.
Thus begins a complex and riveting story which switches from the present day to the 1940s and the Second World War. Erica’s mother, Elsy, was always distant and cold towards Erica and her sister Anna and Erica finds it hard to equate this personality with the sweet and kind young woman portrayed in the diaries. As Patrik finds it hard to keep away from his police station and the ongoing investigations, it becomes clear that there is a strong link between his wife’s mother and Erik Frankel. Not only that, other childhood friends, including Erik’s brother Axel and a woman named Britta all seem to have secrets to hide. When Britta is found murdered, there is no doubt that coincidence is not at play here.
I particularly enjoyed the way Camilla Lackberg weaves ordinary domestic scenes in to the thriller element of her novel. She also writes about very relevant topics such as the rise in Far Right Neo Nazism in Scandinavia, seen recently in the shocking massacre in Norway.
Some of the translation could have been sharper and there was one small loose end ( the strange behaviour of a local librarian) which wasn’t resolved……which was a pity because the rest of the storylines are brilliantly brought together at the conclusion of the book.
In summary, a very well written psychological thriller which made me want to read the previous four books.
This book was made availble to me for an honest review.
Coincidentally, a World War II historian and childhood friend of Elsy's is killed. Despite being on paternity leave, Patrik assists in the case; as expected, Erica and Patrik's searches intersect and lead to long-hidden secrets from the war years in Sweden.
Two weaknesses in this book are the many coincidences and the too-obvious clue in the title. Even more problematic is Elsy. When tragedy struck her family, ". . . grief was . . . driving her to seek the only relief that she could find" - that relief is losing her virginity. To convince the reader that this is a realistic reaction, the author repeats, "Grief urged her to seek solace." Despite Lackberg's emphasis, this reader was not convinced. Furthermore, after another tragedy, Elsy made a conscious decision not to love again; in every book in the series there is reference to her coldness towards her daughters so there is every indication she kept her vow. What is not explained is her relationship with her husband: How/why did she get married? She broke her vow and fell in love? Hers was a loveless marriage (though this is not suggested in any of the books)?
A reader willing to overlook these flaws will enjoy this mystery.
Patrik Hedstrom has to only participate in this murder investigation on the fringe because he's supposed to be on paternity leave. His wife, Erica, starts to read some of her mother's old diaries and is inadvertently drawn into this investigation.
This psychological thriller takes us into the world of resistance fighters during WWII and the risks taken by them, including that of being captured by the Nazis and placed in concentration camps, the strength of friendship and family bonds. It's a page turner that holds you in its tight grip and you can't put it down until after all secrets are laid bare.
From a criminal plotting perspective this is probably Läckberg’s best novel, incorporating two strong plots. The contemporary plot to determine the murderer of the historian is well thought out and doesn’t involve nearly as much police incompetence as the previous novels (though there is still a little). All the small police force play useful roles, including new recruit Paola who seems to fit in well, and the case explores some interesting issues including the rise of neo-Nazi groups in modern Sweden. But perhaps the book’s biggest strength is that this storyline links to a second one taking place in 1943-45, involving the recently killed historian, his brother who spent time as a prisoner of the Germans and several other Fjallbacka residents including Erica’s mother. Eventually the solution to the present-day crimes is located in the past though the nature of the connection is well hidden until the end of the book.
While the family lives of the characters in this series have always been a feature of the novels that I have enjoyed I do think this instalment went a little overboard with the minutiae of characters’ lives. Certainly not all the children are hidden in this novel. In fact the thing is teeming with pregnancies (five), births lengthily described (two), and assorted toddlers and teenagers not to mention yet another love interest for Patrik’s romantically unlucky boss Bertil, an encounter with Patrik’s ex-wife and assorted other minor dramas. It doesn’t feel like Läckberg has held much back for inclusion in the next instalment (aside from several more births I suppose). I do generally enjoy the lighter side of these novels though and it was nice to read a book in which pretty much everyone has a family life in the normal range (i.e. no dramas that can’t be sorted out with a good chat and no alcoholic/near suicidal loners lurking underneath the covers).
Overall then I enjoyed THE HIDDEN CHILD and thought the translation up to the usual good quality even though duties have switched from Steven T Murray to his wife Tiina Nunnally. I think it interesting that my two favourite mysteries to be solved by Läckberg’s fictional characters are the ones where Erica takes more of a central role in the investigation (my other favourite is the first book in the series, THE ICE PRINCESS in which Erica really takes centre stage) and wonder if she’ll continue taking more of a proactive role in future novels.
Ms Lackberg continues her successful Fjallbacka/Hedstrom series with another stunning tale of murder, history, family, and the ties that bind. This novel is a perfect example of how she can take the everyday and make it into an interesting mystery that remains believable. If read in order, her series is a cohesive look at life in Sweden. Her writing is domestic in a way that readers are able to relate to and feel like they are a part of the family, friends, and culture. This novel is just another example of why she is such a magnificent writer!
Part of the story takes place in 1943, at the time of World War II. Although Sweden is not occupied, German troops are in control in nearby Norway. Some brave men are engaged in an effort to smuggle people out of that country. Elof, Erika’s father, is one of those men. It is a terrible time, a time when madness reigns and men are sometimes driven mad by what they see and experience.
As the story unfolds, the reader learns that Erika’s mother was once a young and carefree girl, part of a close group of friends. There were five of them, four were childhood friends: Elsy Mostrom, Erika’s mom, Frans Ringholm, whose father is a hateful man, Erik Frankel who had an older brother Axel, a Nazi hunter, Elsy’s girlfriend Britta, a bit of a flirt, and Hans, a young man who came late to the group. Hans suddenly appeared as a stowaway on Elsy’s father’s boat, in 1944, and is subsequently sheltered by her family. He had escaped from Norway. Frans, Erik and Axel come from the better side of town and Elsy and Britta from the poorer side. All kinds of prejudice existed at the time, and their different social class makes their friendship unusual. How they all fit into the present day murder mystery that Patrick is quasi involved in investigating, and Erika becomes drawn into as she investigates her mom’s past, is neatly knitted into the story. Without Erika’s insight and Patrick’s expertise, the police force is portrayed as a bit inept, haphazardly handling the investigation. However, the characters all grow into their jobs and their lives, admirably, as time passes.
I enjoyed the writing style of this author and didn’t want the book to end too quickly. Although it is part of a series, it stands well on its own. Erika and Patrick are characters that endeared themselves to me. So many of the quirky characters were charming and the dialog between the characters felt so natural and real with their honest expression of feelings and the injection of humor into their conversations, that I felt like I was a fly on the wall, listening in and watching the scenes unfold in real time. Although there were many unlikely coincidences, they were handled deftly by the author, woven so smoothly into the tale, they just naturally seemed to fall into place. I enjoyed the way the plot twisted and turned and kept me guessing as the mystery unfolded. It was a pleasure watching the characters grow and behave as I would have expected normal people to in real life, not stilted in any way, like watching Martin, a detective, grow into his investigator’s job and gain confidence, and watching the Chief, Bertil Mellberg, as he becomes caregiver to a charming dog named Ernst and falls in love with a salsa dancer, and observing him as he softens into a more loveable character as time goes on, although watching Patrick engage in a friendly relationship with his ex-wife stretched my imagination a bit. I was engaged by all of the characters, complete with the dog, and although some were not very likeable, all were simply human beings behaving as humans do, subject to their follies and foibles, subject to the realities of life, to its unexpected fortunes and misfortunes, compassion and malevolence.
I did find it a little contrived throughout the book because practically every societal issue arose in one form or another. Every character had some kind of an issue from sexual to domestic abuse, infidelity to divorce, gender issues to prejudice encompassing sexual preference, class and ethnic purity, from immaturity to insecurity, and it covered family relationships and dysfunction in all its forms. Still, each incident felt that it was true to form in the way that it was exposed.
If you like a good murder mystery steeped in historic fiction and flavored with romance in its many forms, this book is surely for you. This author has a gift. She makes even the goriest of scenes easy to read because they play out with realistic description rather than sensational explanation meant simply to arouse the reader. There s a lightness, a friendliness, kind of a comfort zone feeling in her words and presentation. She is never crass.
And as a yummy aside, like Erika, I love chocolate caramels and I ate them right along with her! To chocolate covered caramels, long may they live!
Patrik has a hard time with his paternity leave and ends up leaving his one-year-old daughter with staff at the department so he can participate in a murder investigation.
There are a lot of characters in the novel, but Lackberg does a good job of keeping them straight and separating the intertwining stories. Simon Vance does an excellent narration.
Do the Swiss have more sexual assaults or misogynists than other countries? I like Swedish crime novels, but either I keep choosing the ones with rape scenes or they have an inordinate number of crime novels that include sexual assaults. I expected this novel to not have one because of the type of crime the main character investigated, and I was hoping that a female author would not feel the need to include a sexual assault in her book. It's not a major scene, but I was still disappointed.
The book is highly suspenseful, and the interweaving of past and present adds to that, for me. And the characters remain likeable, interesting, and at times very funny. One small quibble: I have a little trouble making people's birthdays make sense, but no other reviewers seem troubled by that. I think this is Lackberg's best since "The Ice Princess", and look forward to reading more.
The mystery aspect of the story was good, but I think the real attraction to this series is the relationships between the different police detectives and other people in the town. Definitely engaging and a good enough mystery to interest me in more. One special benefit was that I listened to this book and it was narrated by Simon Vance, the narrator of the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series. Just love his Swedish accent!
Erica’s mother has died, and when going through her mother’s possessions, she’s shocked to discover a Nazi medal. She goes to the home of a retired history professor to get information about the artifact, but he’s less than helpful and rather evasive.
This is the fifth book in the series featuring crime writer Erica Falck and Detective Patrik Hedström, in the village of Fjällbacka, Sweden. However, it’s the first one I’ve read; I’ll have to go back to the beginning, though to truly understand the relationships between recurring characters.
Läckberg uses a dual time line to tell this story. There are the events of 1945, when one young couple’s plans are shattered by prejudice and violence. And there is the current-day mystery of an artifact that threatens to reveal long-held secrets. There is also personal drama – a new baby, tensions at work, an ex-wife coming back. It’s a dark story, but Läckberg gives us a few moments of humor to break the tension.
I really liked the relationships between the characters. Delving into Erica’s past in this way certainly gives a different perspective on her current self, as well as illuminate the ways in which she relates to her husband, friends and colleagues. And I loved the interplay between the detectives on the team. I look forward to reading more of the series.
Simon Vance is excellent, as usual, when performing this audio. His voice simply draws the listener into the story. There are many characters to handle, and he is more than up for the task, even doing a good job of the women’s voices.