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It is winter on Gotland, and fourteen-year-old Fanny is missing. She had no friends to speak of other than the horses she took care of at the local racing stable, and seems to have been an unhappy and isolated teenager, the daughter of an absent Jamaican musician and an instable Swedish mother. Is her disappearance somehow connected to the recent brutal murder of alcoholic photographer Henry Dahlström, who had won a large sum of money at the racetrack right before his death? Inspector Anders Knutas and his team investigate under pressure from the media.
Fanny is finally found, strangled to death and left on a lonely heath, covered by moss and branches. At the same time, grainy but explicit photographs of the girl with a stranger are discovered, hidden in Dahlström's darkroom. Intrepid TV journalist Johan Berg, sent from Stockholm to cover the two deaths, pushes the investigation one decisive step ahead while still trying to resolve his relationship with Emma, which has been simmering since they first met during the investigation into a series of murders on Gotland this past summer.
All evidence points to one of Fanny's coworkers at the stable, an American who has left the country for a short vacation. As Knutas and his team wait for his return to make the arrest, the inspector takes a well-deserved weekend off with an old friend, and at the lonely cottage in the woods, the pieces finally fit together. But this time, Knutas has gotten too close. . . .
"Impossible to put down."
-—Gotlands Allehanda
"Guaranteed to be read in one sitting."
—-Svenska Journalen
"True Swedish crime—-exciting, harsh, yet sensitive."
—-Hörzu
"Mari Jungstedt writes the way one imagines Scandinavia in winter: sober, cold, unsparing. And you can't stop reading."
—-Für Sie
"Mari Jungstedt's characters have personality and heart. Captivating."
-—Bildzeitung Berlin
"A gripping thriller."
—-Fernsehwoche
At the start of Jungstedt's somber, subtle second mystery set on the Swedish island of Gotland (after 2006's Unseen), Det. Supt. Anders Knutas and his team look into the murder of the alcoholic former news photographer Henry Dahlström. In the course of their investigation, they discover evidence not only that the man maintained a good income doing illegal repair work for most of Gotland's leading citizens but that his death may somehow be linked to missing 14-year-old Fanny Jansson. Meanwhile, Johan Berg, a Stockholm news reporter, tries to keep his bosses interested in Dahlström's murder so he can take trips to Gotland to visit his married lover, Emma Winarve. With solid characters and powerful descriptions of the dark Swedish winter, this newest entry in the great tradition of Scandinavian police procedurals provides an engaging and twisty narrative that will fool even the most attentive reader. (Sept.)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business InformationIndridason turns introspective in his third mystery translated into English (after the award-winning Jar Cityand Silence of the Grave), a thriller that occurs over just six days before Christmas. In the midst of the holiday rush at a Reykjavik hotel, the doorman who portrays Santa Claus is found stabbed in his basement room, in costume and wearing a condom with his pants around his ankles. When Inspector Erlendur learns that the victim was once a celebrated choirboy who was never able to experience a real childhood, he's reminded of the death of his younger brother in a blizzard, which he himself survived. Erlendeur also has to deal with his drug-addicted daughter mourning the recent loss of her baby and a child abuse case involving an eight-year-old boy, which takes a turn that distresses Erlendur's colleague Elinborg. A long-divorced loner, Erlendur takes residence in the hotel, weighing motives of greed and hatred and developing a promising romantic relationship while coworkers worry about his lack of Christmas plans. An exceptional psychological study-Erlendur struggles with his past and his present-this won the Martin Beck Award in Sweden for the best crime novel in translation.In Jungstedt's second mystery (after Unseen), Detective Superintendent Anders Knutas of Gotland has both a murdered alcoholic photographer and a missing 14-year-old girl on his hands. Along with his closest colleague, Detective Inspector Karin Jacobsson, Knutas is assisted by smitten reporter Johan Berg, who turns up leads as he pursues married Emma Winarve, whose bond to her children has her vacillating between her lover and her husband. Inevitably, the two cases are found to belinked-and become painfully personal for Knutas. Jungstedt's portrayal of the victims-particularly of young biracial Fanny Jansson, daughter of a single alcoholic mother-are especially sharp, as she continues to develop the characters from her debut novel. The result is a more polished sequel and ending with a cliff-hanger that whets interest for her next. Featuring perpetrators acting out of desperation and a certain insularity with their island locales, both novels are recommended for collections where dark, foreign mysteries are popular, but probably not for holiday reading.
—Michele Leber
Chapter 1
For the first time in a week the sky cleared. The wan rays of November sunshine found their way through the clouds, and the spectators at the Visby trotting track turned their faces with yearning up toward the sun. It was the last race of the season, and there was a sense of anticipation in the air, mixed with a touch of melancholy. A chilly but enthusiastic crowd had gathered in the grandstands. They were drinking beer and hot coffee from plastic cups, eating hot dogs, and making notes in their track programs.
Henry “Flash” Dahlström got out his hip flask and took a good swig of his home-brewed liquor. It made him grimace, but it also warmed him nicely. With him in the stands sat the whole gang: Bengan, Gunsan, Monica, and Kjelle. All of them were rapidly advancing toward various states of intoxication.
The procession had just started. The snorting standardbreds, glossy with sweat, were lined up and prancing forward as the music blared from the loudspeakers. The drivers, with their legs wide apart, were firmly seated in their lightweight sulkies.
The odds were posted on a black tote board out near the track, with the numbers ticking past.
Henry leafed through the racing program. He ought to place a bet on Ginger Star, running in race number seven. No one else seemed to believe in her. She was only a three-year-old. He had followed the horse during the summer races, and even though she had a tendency to break into a gallop, she kept on getting better.
“Hey, Flash, take a look at Pita Queen. She’s a beauty, don’t you think?” Bengan slurred his words as he reached for the hip flask.
Henry had been given the nickname Flash because he had worked as a photographer for Gotlands Tidningar for many years before alcohol took over his life full-time.
“You’re damn right. With that trainer . . .” he replied and then stood up to take his racing card to the window.
There was a line of betting windows, all with open wooden hatches. Wallets were eagerly pulled out, banknotes changed hands, and cards were handed in. One flight up was the track restaurant, where invited guests ate steak and drank strongbeer. Honored big-time players puffed on cigars, discussing the current condition of the horses and the technique of the drivers.
The race was about to begin. The first driver politely saluted the judges by giving a brief nod toward the judging tower. Over the loudspeakers the announcer called for the horses to take their places.
After four races Henry had an equal number of wins on his card. If luck was with him, he could win the jackpot with five in a row. Since he had also bet on the long shot Ginger Star in the last race, the winnings ought to be significant. If only she came up to his expectations.
The race began and he followed the sulkies on the track as closely as he could after consuming eight strongbeers and a countless number of shots. When the bell for the final lap rang, his pulse quickened. Ginger Star was running well, damned well, as a matter of fact. With each stride she closed in on the two favorites in the lead, and he seemed to be seeing her more clearly. The powerful neck, the snorting nostrils, and the ears pointing straight forward. She could do it.
Don’t start galloping now, do not gallop. He was muttering this plea to himself like a mantra. His eyes were fixed on the young filly, who with furious energy was closing in on the leaders. Now she passed one of her rivals. Suddenly he became aware of the weight of the camera around his neck, and he was reminded that he had planned to take pictures. He snapped several photos, his hands relatively steady.
The red sand of the trotting track spurted up around the hooves that were pounding forward at breakneck speed. The drivers were using their whips on the horses, and the excitement rose among the spectators. Many in the stands were on their feet, some of them clapping, others shouting.
Ginger Star pulled forward on the outside and was now even with the horse in the lead. Then her driver used his whip for the first time. Dahlström stood up as he followed the horse through the lens of his camera.
When Ginger Star crossed the finish line ahead of the big favorite by a nose, a sigh of disappointment passed through the crowd. Dahlström was aware of scattered comments: “What the hell?” “It can’t be true!” “Unbelievable!” “Damn it!”
But he dropped down onto the bench.
He had won all five races in a row.
The only audible sound was the sweep of the broom across the stable floor and the grinding jaws of the horses as they chewed their evening oats. Calm had settled in after the hectic race day. Fanny Jansson was sweeping with brisk, rhythmic strokes. Her body ached after all the hard work, and when she was done, she sank down onto a feed box outside Regina’s stall. The horse peered out, and Fanny stuck her hand through the bars to stroke the horse’s nose.
The slender, dark-skinned girl was alone in the stable. She had declined an invitation to join the others at a local restaurant to celebrate the end of the season. She could just imagine how rowdy it was bound to get. Worse than usual. She had been there several times before but didn’t enjoy it. The horse owners would drink too much and try to hit on her. They called her “princess,” pulled her onto their laps, and pinched her on the rear.
Some got bolder the more they drank. They would make comments about her body, both verbally and with their eyes. They were a pack of dirty old men.
She yawned, but she had no desire to bike home, either. Not really. Her mother had the day off from her job, and there was a good chance that she was drunk. If she was alone she would be sitting on the sofa with her mouth turned down in a sullen frown, with a bottle of wine in front of her. As usual, Fanny would feel guilty because she hadn’t spent the day with her mother instead of with the horses. Her mother couldn’t care less that it was a race day with tons of work to do. Nor did she understand that Fanny needed to get away from home. The stable was her lifeline. If she didn’t have the horses, she didn’t know what she would do.
Uneasiness seized her as she imagined an even worse scenario: that her mother might not be alone. If her so-called boyfriend, Jack, was there, they would get even drunker, and Fanny would have a hard time sleeping.
Tomorrow she had to be at school early, and she needed to get some sleep. Ninth grade was a torment that she wanted to get through as fast as possible. Fanny had tried to do her best when the term started, but things just kept getting worse. She was having a hard time concentrating, and she had started cutting classes fairly often. She just couldn’t face it.
She had enough troubles outside of school. Copyright © 2004 by Mari Jungstedt. English translation © 2007 by Tiina Nunnally. All rights reserved.
Anonymous
Posted August 5, 2012
I've just finished all four books of Jungstedt translated into English. I like the major characters, with all their eccentricites; in fact, I feel like an islander myself! I can hardly stop reading and Jungstead keeps me guessing until the last moment, but I don't feel misled. Please--write and translate more books! LLL
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.On wintry Gotland Island, Sweden Police Detective Superintendent Anders Knutas leads the investigation into the homicide of alcoholic former news photographer Henry Dahlström. They uncover a tenuous link between Henry and missing fourteen year old Fanny Jansson. Before his murder Henry won a lot of money at the racetrack while Fanny cared for the horses at a local stable.-------------- The police find Fanny¿s strangled corpse on a remote heath. They also discover poorly shot pictures of Fanny in explicit poses with a male stranger in Dahlström¿s darkroom. Knutas believes an American working at the stables committed the double murders, but the suspect is away on vacation. Stockholm based TV journalist Johan Berg is assigned to report on the two cases, which enables him to see his married lover Emma Winarve, whom he first met last summer (see UNSEEN).--------------------- The official investigation is cleverly designed to keep the audience attention on this strong Swedish police procedural. The cast is fully developed especially the contrasts between the superintendent who does not want to be there and the reporter who does (but not for the story). However, with a terrific whodunit filled with strong characterizations, the island in winter steals the show as readers will feel the bitter cold while the story line twists and turns in the wind.--------- Harriet Klausner
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Overview
It is winter on Gotland, and fourteen-year-old Fanny is missing. She had no friends to speak of other than the horses she took care of at the local racing stable, and seems to have been an unhappy and isolated teenager, the daughter of an absent Jamaican musician and an instable Swedish mother. Is her disappearance somehow connected to the recent brutal murder of alcoholic photographer Henry Dahlström, who had won a large sum of money at the racetrack right before his death? Inspector Anders Knutas and his team ...