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Until Thy Wrath Be Past, By: Åsa Larsson and translated by Laurie Thompson

January 9, 2012 By 7 Comments

UNTIL THY WRATH BE PAST (2011), wastes no time pulling you into the story. This is the fourth book in the series set in Sweden to feature district attorney Rebecka Martinsson. This is the best written book in the series that started with SUN STORM (2006). This is a tightly plotted story that is well thought out and full of tension filled scenes that introduces an interesting pair of antagonists in the Krekula brothers. The premise: a young couple go winter diving in a mountain lake and then disappear. There is mention of Germany’s occupation in the country during WWII and its impact in the lives of those affected in the present day. The narrative often splits into several different perspectives, told in third person, where one is seamlessly done from the victim’s POV.

UNTIL THY WRATH BE PAST was unputdownable. This book epitomizes all that I enjoy in Scandinavian crime fiction with its interesting locale and culture. The tone can sometimes be bleak as most books in this genre tend to be about people expressing loneliness and/or despair. I like the focus on nature and its contrasts. I like the attention to the harsh climate. I like that the characters are believable and are shown to deal with their own personal issues while investigating crimes. I liked the flow of the story and how each thread or events begin to form and connect to give a complete picture. The plot is one that uses real events about German soldiers using Swedish drivers to transport supplies to the Eastern front. The author delved into the past and unearthed some interesting facts to tell her story. [Read more...]

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The Black Path, By: Åsa Larsson and translated by Marlaine Delargy

December 28, 2011 By 7 Comments

I am on an Åsa Larsson reading spree. Her novels, described by others, are said to be more traditional crime thrillers than police procedurals and how she structures her story, told in third person narrative, works very well for me. Some of the themes in her novels have been interesting too. The novels are all set in northern Sweden, 150Km north of the Arctic Circle. So far these are entertaining reads with two strong female protagonists.

Having enjoyed THE BLOOD SPLIT so much, I thought I would dive right in to THE BLACK PATH, the third book in the series. Rebecka Martinsson has quit her job as a junior attorney at Sweden’s top business law firm, Meijer & Ditzinger in Stockholm and has taken up residence in her childhood home in the mining community of Kiruna after so many years in exile. After the devastating events in the last book that put her in mortal danger, she does a stint in a psychiatric clinic and is prescribed anti-depressants. Rebecka, over time, in the book it says 18 months, recovers and takes up residence in her grandmother’s home in Kurravaara.

The weather is still blistering cold and the wind is up. A fisherman finds a woman’s body in an ark a few miles outside the tourist station of Abisko. Detectives Anna-Maria Mella and Sven-Erik Stålnacke investigate the case with the help of the newly appointed prosecutor, Rebecka Martinsson. She was snapped up by the chief prosecutor in Kiruna because he thinks she would be good at the job (plus she’s a workaholic) and she is.

The victim is a woman in her forties who held a important position in Kallis Mining, a company that is a major player in the mining industry. She was an information specialist. There are very few clues in Inna Wattrang’s death. The victim’s brother, Diddi Wattrang arrives to identify her body along with their boss, Mauri Kallis, an overseas investor who heads Kallis Mining. He brings along his security team. The two men are upset at Inna Wattrang’s death but manage to remain guarded and tight lipped to the police. Neither of them claim to know Inna Wattrang’s whereabouts before her death and offer the police very little in helping them track down this opportunistic killer. [Read more...]

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The Blood Split by Åsa Larsson and translated by Marlaine Delargy

December 2, 2011 By 5 Comments

The Blood Split (2008) by Åsa Larsson with translation by Marlaine Delargy is the second book featuring tax attorney Rebecka Martinsson. She first appeared in Sun Storm, a riveting story that focused on religious zealotry. Both books are set in North Sweden where the subarctic climate is characterized by unusually long and freezing winters. The type of crime fiction that Åsa Larsson writes have to do with social criticism in family dynamics, social power, religion and the centuries old conflict between men and women.

The Blood Split takes place during the mildly warmer summer months and about a year and a half later after the event(s) of the last book. This series is best categorized as police procedurals even though the main star is a lawyer. Rebecka’s path often intersects with detectives Anna-Maria Mella (married with children) and her partner, Sven Erik Stålnacke (lives alone with his cat). There is something about Ms. Larsson’s stories and her storytelling abilities that keeps me riveted. The truth is that she’s really good about writing human drama and its triumphs and tragedies. Her prose/narrative is full of energy. Conflicts, secrets and regular people who react impulsively from their inner demons and rage make up the majority of her stories thus far. A lot of the secrets aren’t hard to figure out but that didn’t stop it from being an engrossing read. [Read more...]

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Sun Storm, By: Åsa Larsson (trans by Marlaine Delargy )

April 25, 2011 By 4 Comments

Sun Storm (2006, 310 pages) by Åsa Larsson with translation by Marlaine Delargy is the first book in a series set in Stockholm. The other title(s) for this book: Solstorm in Sweden and The Savage Altar in the UK. I love good drama and this book delivered. Overall thoughts: gripping, page-turning. I raced to the end.

A religious leader is slain in a church that he helped build and the community shuts down and refuses to cooperate with the police. The only way to crack the case is by a disgraced former member of that community. Cast of characters include the cold, distant, uncooperative pastors/elders whose lips are shut tight. Then there’s the victim’s fragile sister, mother of two little girls. [Read more...]

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Åsa Larsson

April 16, 2011 By 3 Comments

I’m reading another new to me author. It is Sun Storm by Swedish crime fiction writer, Åsa Larsson. Ms. Larsson has written other novels in this series with the first being Sun Storm featuring Rebecka Martinsoon. Reading order below. Here is the back blurb for Sun Storm (2006):

On the floor of a church in northern Sweden, the body of a man lies mutilated and defiled–and in the night sky, the aurora borealis dances as the snow begins to fall….So begins Åsa Larsson’s spellbinding thriller, winner of Sweden’s Best First Crime Novel Award and an international literary sensation.

Rebecka Martinsson is heading home to Kiruna, the town she’d left in disgrace years before. A Stockholm attorney, Rebecka has a good reason to return: her friend Sanna, whose brother has been horrifically murdered in the revivalist church his charisma helped create. Beautiful and fragile, Sanna needs someone like Rebecka to remove the shadow of guilt that is engulfing her, to forestall an ambitious prosecutor and a dogged policewoman. But to help her friend, and to find the real killer of a man she once adored and is now not sure she ever knew, Rebecka must relive the darkness she left behind in Kiruna, delve into a sordid conspiracy of deceit, and confront a killer whose motives are dark, wrenching, and impossible to guess….

Update: Ms. Larsson has two other books in this series and the reading order as follows and all are digitized:
#1 Sun Storm (2006)
#2 The Blood Split (2007)
#3 The Black Path (2008)

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