Great crime
novels keep coming out of Sweden in particular and Scandinavia in
general for the past few years, at a rate that sometimes is hard to
follow. What is it that all of sudden made Scandinoir, or Nordic
Noir, look so appealing in the eyes of readers all over the world? Is
it still because of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo phenomenon or is
it something else? Whatever the reason Scandinavian authors now seem
to command our full attention and I for one are happy about itThis is the
second book I read by this author and I’m sure that more will
follow. Mrs. Larsson has a way of gripping the reader’s attention
without seemingly trying to do so. Her heroes are everyday people who
are trying to live their lives as best they can. They have families
and pets, they have a lot of worries and most of them are torturing
themselves psychologically, because they can’t really express their
feelings, or because they do what they do out of greed or lust for
glory instead for the right reasons.
The reader
travels back and forth in time in rural Sweden as they embark on the
journey of solving the many riddles at the heart of this story. A
not so strange incident is what gives spark to flame and ignites the
plot. A bear appears out of the snowy nowhere and attacks a farm. A
professional bear hunter is called in to find and kill the animal,
which under the circumstances is considered extremely dangerous. That
happens sooner rather than later but the bear’s death brings to
light a sinister discovery: within its body lie parts of the remains
of a man. In the meantime, a woman is killed in her house, while a
boy of seven, her grandson, hardly escapes with his life. What is it
that connects the two cases?
Well, the
perfect candidate for heading the investigation would be District
Prosecutor Rebecka Martinsson, who knows the people and the place
really well, but an ambitious colleague that goes by the name of von
Post hijacks her case. She expects that he’ll make a mess of it,
and of course he obliges. Rebecka is furious with her boss for
allowing him to do that to her and the case, but at the same time
she’s determined to find the truth, even though at first she
doesn’t even know she’s doing that.
As we follow
her around and through the many flashbacks that spread throughout the
story we get to learn a lot of things about the history of the region
and its people, but most importantly about the stories of the
victims. Rebecka is thorough in her research and a great detective of
sorts and that’s exactly what leads her to discover the truth; a
truth that was there for her to see right from the start.
The Second
Deadly Sin is a crime novel, a psychological thriller and a social
commentary at the same time, but most of all it’s a great book and
as such I’d wholeheartedly recommend it to all.
First published in Crime Factory magazine
No comments:
Post a Comment