Once the police are there, they investigate it and determine that Alex has been murdered and the crime scene was made to look like a suicide. From there, Ms. Lackberg introduces us to a group of memorable characters and creates a great murder mystery that is compelling from start to finish.
Much of the formatting of this book reminds me of one of my favorite authors, John Dickson Carr. On one hand, it’s hard to compare Patrik Hedstrom to Dr. Gideon Fell because Carr based his books on Fell’s brilliance in solving crimes. Lackberg doesn’t do that but there isn’t a need to do that. The story is engaging enough that she brings out other characters in the story as well.
As far as point of view is concerned, like Carr, Lackberg writes from the point of view from different characters in the story. Everyone of them has a past and it adds to the mystery to make it hard to put down.
Take police chief Helberg for example. He’s the obnoxious boss who draws the wrong conclusions about the murder and is on Hedstrom’s back to solve the murder so he can take all the credit for it and be promoted. He’s a comic character as well when we see him in his chair stuffing his mouth with chocolates.
The book is not only a mystery but a great story for literary fans as well. The relationships are dysfunctional and it adds great value to the investigation. The relationships hit home for Erica also since she is in love with Patrik and her sister is a victim of domestic violence.
If you’re looking for a book that has a great mystery and memorable characters, then this is for you. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading other books by Camilla Lackberg. It’s worth more than five stars to me. In fact, I’ll go further and say that this is the best mystery book that I have read this year.
Ron Hummer
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