Synopses & Reviews
Crime writer Erica Falck is shocked to discover a Nazi medal among her late mother's possessions. Haunted by a childhood of neglect, she resolves to dig deep into her family's past and finally uncover the reasons why.
Her inquiries lead her to the home of a retired history teacher. He was among her mother's circle of friends during the Second World War but her questions are met with bizarre and evasive answers. Two days later he meets a violent death. Detective Patrik Hedström, Erica's husband, is on paternity leave but soon becomes embroiled in the murder investigation. Who would kill so ruthlessly to bury secrets so old?
Reluctantly Erica must read her mother's wartime diaries. But within the pages is a painful revelation about Erica's past. Could what little knowledge she has be enough to endanger her husband and newborn baby? The dark past is coming to light, and no one will escape the truth of how they came to be...
About the Author
Born in 1971, Camilla Läckberg lives in a suburb of Stockholm, with her three children.
After graduating from Gothenburg University of Economics, she moved to Stockholm where she worked for a few years as an economist. However, a course in creative crime writing became the trigger to a drastic change of career. The same week her son was born in August 2002, her first novel
Isprinsessan, (
The Ice Princess) was accepted for publication. The next book,
Predikanten, (
The Preacher) was released in June 2004 and after that it was
Stenhuggaren, (
The Stonecutter) then
Olycksfageln, (
The Jinx),
Tyskungen (
The German Child),
Sjöjungfrun (
The Mermaid) and her most recent
Fyrvaktaren (
The Lighthouse Keeper). Fjällbacka is the scene for all the novels where she has used the existing police station in Tanumshede and put her own police force in it.
Her hobbies are cooking — she's written a cookbook with a chef called
Flavours from Fjällbacka" — and spending time with friends.
Steven T. Murray was born in 1943 in Berkeley, California and is an American translator of Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, and German. He has translated novels by the bestselling Swedish writers Karin Alvtegen and Henning Mankell, in 2001 winning the CWA Gold Dagger Award in the UK for Sidetracked.
He was also editor-in-chief of Fjord Press from 1981 to 2001, which published mainly Scandinavian fiction in translation. He now lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with his wife Tiina Nunnally.