Review: The Girl Who Lived Twice by David Lagercrantz: European Reading Challenge

European Reading Challenge hosted by Rose City Reader

Here is the first of three books for this challenge:

Title: The Girl Who Lived Twice by David Lagercrantz  

About: #6 in the Millennium series first created by Stieg Larsson, 2019

Setting: Sweden and Russia

Genre: Scandinavian thriller, suspense

Lizbeth Salander has her own problems to worry about, namely her crazed sister Camilla's obsession with finding and destroying Lizbeth, whom she blames for so much. 

As a result, Lizbeth pays half-hearted attention to her old co-worker and friend Mikael Blomquist, who is also looking for her. But for different reasons. He needs her help to solve another case involving a strange, homeless and destitute man on the streets with incoherent messages about the Defense Minister of Sweden.  

And so the case involves another mystery involving government officials. This one, printed in 2019, uses current global situations to weave its plot. There is supposed Russian involvement in Swedish political affairs, cases of fake news, and disinformation to destroy careers and reputations. Though this novel is fiction, certain themes sound familiar. 

And so, the novel pulls you in, with the characters that we know from previous books in the series - Salander and Mikael Blomquist - and also with the larger plot. To add to the interest, several of the book's characters are involved in a fatal climb on Mount Everest, where devious and dreadful things take place. 

A definite five rating for this reader, for sure. I'm looking forward for more of Lizbeth and Blomquist in the next books that are sure to come.

Review: In the Heat of the Moment by Viveca Sten

In the Heat of the Moment

In the Heat of the Moment (Sandhamn Murders, #5) by Viveca Sten, 2018

I read this mystery series set in Sweden out of order, No. 1 and then No. 5, not that it matters as each book can be read as a stand alone mystery. The only carry over are the main characters, two police detectives, and the island setting, Sandhamn.

In this the fifth, the time is Midsummer Eve and Midsummer, a big celebration in  Sweden. This novel takes us to the island of Sandhamn, Swedish archipelago, where teens go to celebrate in droves and the police are out in full force to prevent violence, crime, or drunken tourists. The island dwellers mostly stay at home, knowing the crowds and the rowdiness that will prevail on pleasure boats and on land. 

There is a murder on the island and some teens are missing, some are suspects in foul play, some found, interrogated, and grilled by parents and police. There is general mayhem among families, as well as mistakes made, one almost fatal. 

I learned about the summer solstice celebration of Midsummer in Sweden, island culture, and much more in this novel, besides an interesting plot and some teen behavior that is mostly universal. A good mystery novel that I recommend. I  hope to read all eight in the series.

Here is the first in the Sandhamn Murder series, which I read last year.

Still Waters

This one I rated a five as well. 

My review from goodreads:

The first in the Sandhamn mystery series, Still Waters is set in the Swedish archipelago with its hundreds of islands, including Sandhamn. The main characters are a police officer and his childhood friend, a lawyer, who try to solve the mystery of a man found dead, tangled in a fishing net off the island. Atmospheric and suspenseful, the novel has a good plot, interesting characters, and a splendid description of the picturesque islands in this part of Sweden.

Book Review: Killer Deal by Sofie Sarenbrant

Book

Killer Deal by Sofie Sarenbrant, published May 10, 2016, Stockholm Press
Genre: police procedural, thriller

This is the third in the Emma Skold crime series by the Swedish author, and the first to be translated into English. You can tell something about the first books as things seem to have moved along for Emma, the Stockholm detective. She has moved on from her former love, Hugo, and is now in a relationship with a new love, Kristoffer, who is in real estate.

Not only is Emma heavily pregnant with her first child, but she continues to work, becoming engrossed in solving the latest crime - the death of a wealthy man in his own home. The dead man's wife, Cornelia, has been physically and emotionally abused for years and, because of this, is the prime suspect in the murder. But there are more twists and turns in the plot, so that you can't expect the real culprit till the very end.

Well written with well developed characters, the book tackles sensitive themes of domestic abuse, loss, and revenge. It ends with a cliff hanger, a plot hook that makes you want to read the next in the series.

Objective rating: 4.5/5
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Meryl Zegarek Public Relations, Inc. for review.

New Books: Not All Mysteries :)

Five new books this week, to add to the toppling TBR pile:

Here are two ARC that just arrived:

Every Bitter Thing: A Chief Inspector Mario Silva Investigation Set in Brazil by Leighton Gage, a mystery set in Brazil, to be released December 2010. Series of deaths of former passengers on TAB Flight 8101 from Miami to Sao Paulo, Brazil, has Inspector Mario Silva busy, especially since the latest is the son of Venezuela's foreign minister, found dead in his apartment in Brasilia. I like the setting; Brazil has such a vital environment and rich history.

The Insane Train (A Hook Runyon Mystery) by Sheldon Russell, to be released November, 2010. A mystery set in the 1940's, featuring railroad detective Hook Runyon. Survivors of a fire in an insane asylum are being transported by train to Oklahoma; several of the inmates and an attendant on the train are found dead. Hook Runyon investigates the suspicious circumstances and uncovers a long-held secret of revenge.

Add a mystery from last year,

Too Rich and Too Thin, Not an an Autobiographyby Barbara DeShong, a Jessica LeFave Mystery, 2009. Psychologist Jessica LeFave is inclined to link the death of  soft-porn novelist Bernice to the death of her husband David several months previously. Bernice was one of David's psychiatry patients and may have had secrets to hide.

These two I got from the library, after reading blogs that reviewed or introduced them:

I Curse the River of Time: A Novel (The Lannan Translation Series) by Per Petterson, translated from the Norwegian by Charlotte Barslund and Per Petterson, 2008. A work of fiction set in Norway, 1989, the novel is about Arvid Jansen, 37, trying to understand the choices he made in his youth and to remedy the estrangement between himself and his now ill mother.


The Man from Beijing, a novel by Henning Mankel, translated from the Swedish by Laurie Thompson, 2010. A thriller involving Sweden, Beijing, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique. I'm looking forward to this one too, as it seems to involve politics, history, as well as a mystery.

What books are you reading these days?