Sun and Shadow (Erik Winter Series #3)

by Åke Edwardson, Laurie Thompson (Translator)

Overview

Like his fellow countryman Henning Mankell, Åke Edwardson is a successful figure on the international mystery scene and a brilliant discovery for lovers of intricate, psychologically charged, and stylish crime novels. With Sun and Shadow, Edwardson introduces readers to detective Erik Winter, the youngest chief inspector in Sweden, who wears sharp suits, cooks gourmet meals, has a penchant for jazz, and is about to become a father. He's also moody and intuitive, his mind inhabiting the crimes he's trying to solve. In this atmospheric, heart-stopping tale, Winter's troubles abound—and a bloody double murder on his doorstep is just the beginning.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780143037187
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	04/25/2006
Series:	A Chief Inspector Erik Winter Novel , #3
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	1,014,545
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.87(d)
Age Range:	18 - 17 Years

About the Author

Åke Edwardson is one of Scandinavia’s most successful crime writers. He has won numerous awards, including the Swedish Academy of Crime Writers’ Award three times.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"An intriguing look at life in a distant part of the world." —Chicago Tribune

"On a par with P. D. James." —Helsingborgs Dagblad

"A rich, psychologically satisfying tale…. Readers looking for a gritty, well-paced, thoughtful thriller will appreciate Edwardson's masterful novel." —I Love a Mystery

Editorial Reviews

"An intriguing look at life in a distant part of the world." —Chicago Tribune

"On a par with P. D. James." —Helsingborgs Dagblad "A rich, psychologically satisfying tale…. Readers looking for a gritty, well-paced, thoughtful thriller will appreciate Edwardson's masterful novel." —I Love a Mystery

From the Publisher

Cars from Sweden are known for being dependable and safe, but like this American debut from a celebrated Scandinavian crime writer, their stolid lines don't necessarily spark excitement. Erik Winter, a jazz-loving, gourmet-cooking detective, is a blaze of color amid the drab postwar apartment blocks of Gothenburg, a city reeling from a macabre double murder. Winter, whose normally secure battlements are assaulted by family tragedy and the impending birth of his first child, sets out to follow the dark drops of gore blooming in the snow. The path leads in any number of interesting directions-through thickets of death metal enthusiasts and swingers, through winds of psychosexual trauma-but these subjects never pierce the book's colorless atmosphere. Excessive exposition slows down an already unhurried plot, which Americans fond of glib investigators on CSI and Hannibal Lecter's piercing irony will find insufficiently suspenseful. The villain is comparatively bland, and the translation often awkward: Winters takes a "softly softly approach" so that his witness doesn't get "chary." Add in an insistence on mundane details, such as the particulars of a simple bank transaction, and the results smother any flame of personality. All the blocks that built this gothic ice cathedral are cut straight, but assembled without the design of a compelling thriller. Agent, Carol Frederick. (June) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Mystery fans on this side of the Atlantic can be grateful that the travails of Erik Winter, the youngest chief inspector in Sweden, are now available in English. In six months, Winter deals with the move-in of his longtime lover, Angela, now pregnant; his father's death; and his 40th birthday. Then there's the grisly homicide of a married couple, with the naked corpses carefully posed, accompanied by black metal music. A second such crime that leaves the wife still clinging to life proves connections through personal ads for sex and raises the possibility of a cop perpetrator. The case swirls closer to Winter personally as Angela gets mysterious phone calls and feels that she's being watched. This dark police procedural is a topnotch work, suspenseful to the very end, with appealing characters. Award-winning Scandinavian writer Edwardson is often compared to Henning Mankell; his Winter and Angela should prove to be favorites. Highly recommended for all mystery collections.-Michele Leber, Arlington, VA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

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