Midwinter blood: a thriller

*Starred Review* Meditative. Dark. Really, really cold. Not quite as strange as Stieg Larsson. This is a worthy successor to Larsson's Millennium trilogy, probably owing its American publication (it was first published in Sweden in 2007) to Larsson's success. It's February in the small Swedish city of Linkoping, a time when even Swedes stay indoors. Heroine Malin Fors, an investigator in Linkoping's crime unit, forces herself out of bed and into her unresponsive car in a scene that is the print equivalent of the below-zero opening of Fargo. Malin is 34, divorced and still confused, the mother of a teen daughter, going through the inevitable balancing act. What sets Malin and her coworker Zeke Martinsson apart from most people getting up on this cold morning is that they both meditate on the necessity of holding evil at bay in their own lives (Kallentoft gives multiple points of view throughout). And evil does appear, as both Malin and Zeke knew it would, at the crime scene to which they've been summoned. A naked man, badly bruised, is hanging from the branches of an oak tree (the dead man's point of view is given, as well). There are no clues to the man's identity, which leads to wonderfully spare meditations on identity itself. This first installment in Kallentoft's crime series is a splendid representative of the Swedish crime novel, in all its elegance and eeriness.--Fletcher, Connie Copyright 2010 Booklist

First published in Sweden in 2007, Kallentoft's psychologically astute, carefully crafted first novel featuring Linkoping police inspector Malin Fors, a 33-year-old divorced mother, centers on the death of 330-pound Bengt Andersson, an eccentric loner found beaten, cut, and hanging naked from a solitary oak in the frozen countryside. As part of the investigation, Fors and her partner, Zeke Martinsson, look into Andersson's disjointed family history, the teenage boys who tormented him, and the ritualistic nature of the murder that a local history professor likens to a "midwinter blood" sacrifice of Viking vintage. The case develops with painstaking slowness, allowing for a detailed, nuanced portrait of the relationship of Fors with her 13-year-old daughter as well as with her fellow officers. Meanwhile, the murder victim's spirit floats around, offering its wry observations on the proceedings. Readers will look forward to the next three volumes in the series, already scheduled to appear in successive years. Agent: Joakim Hansson, Nordin Agency. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

In a small, frozen town in the north of Sweden, Supt. Malin Fors combines heavy brooding with a strong work ethic. When the town outcast is found naked, beaten, and hanging from a tree, Malin and the rest of the police force must devote all their resources to finding the killers. But a motley family of degenerates, a nosy journalist, and a cult based on ritualistic debauchery and sacrifice all stand in the way of a clean, speedy investigation. VERDICT Though Malin is a smart, intuitive, and strong-willed heroine, the book runs too long, and the incessant descriptions of rape, torture, and murder unfortunately have the effect of an icy hammer to the head. Furthermore, the intermittent passages given over to the hanging man's monologs are distracting, overwritten, and ultimately pointless. Still, novelist Kallentoft's (Pesatas) debut thriller will likely appeal to some fans of Scandinavian mysteries, who will exult in another northern European detective series. [See Prepub Alert, 12/19/11; previewed in Kristi Chadwick's Genre Spotlight feature, "Crime Travels," LJ 4/15/12.-Ed.]-Jennifer Rogers, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community Coll. Lib., Richmond, VA (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kallentoft's first English-language translation pits Detective Inspector Malin Fors against a killer who committed an unspeakably ritualistic murder. In the middle of what feels like Linkping's coldest winter in years, Malin Fors is called to a horrific crime scene. Someone has bashed Bengt Andersson to death, stabbed him several times for good measure, stripped him naked and hung him from a high branch of an oak tree. Since his blood is already frozen and there's no hurry to examine the forensic evidence, Malin orders the body left in place for the time being. Bad mistake: Bengt crashes into the tent pitched beneath him, breaking a police officer's arm in the process. It's the first of many missteps Malin will make in trying to figure out who might have killed the eccentric loner and why. Rickard Skoglf and his girlfriend, Valkyria Karlsson, who advocate sacrificing animals each midwinter and hanging them from trees, sniff that they wouldn't sanction anything so depraved. And the family of Maria Murvall, whose rape years ago sent her deep into psychosis, simply closes ranks against the authorities they insist are harassing them. Malin seems to be doing little better on the home front. Tove, the 13-year-old daughter she's raising alone, has found a boyfriend and discovered sex, to the disapproval of Malin's father and the consternation of Malin, who became a teen bride when she found herself pregnant with Tove. No wonder then, that on meeting the speechless, unresponsive Maria, Malin thinks: "You're a lot like me." A complex, heartfelt, rather grueling procedural, middling for the current bumper crop of Scandinavian imports, and first of a series of four seasonal cases for Malin.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

*Starred Review* Meditative. Dark. Really, really cold. Not quite as strange as Stieg Larsson. This is a worthy successor to Larsson's Millennium trilogy, probably owing its American publication (it was first published in Sweden in 2007) to Larsson's success. It's February in the small Swedish city of Linkoping, a time when even Swedes stay indoors. Heroine Malin Fors, an investigator in Linkoping's crime unit, forces herself out of bed and into her unresponsive car in a scene that is the print equivalent of the below-zero opening of Fargo. Malin is 34, divorced and still confused, the mother of a teen daughter, going through the inevitable balancing act. What sets Malin and her coworker Zeke Martinsson apart from most people getting up on this cold morning is that they both meditate on the necessity of holding evil at bay in their own lives (Kallentoft gives multiple points of view throughout). And evil does appear, as both Malin and Zeke knew it would, at the crime scene to which they've been summoned. A naked man, badly bruised, is hanging from the branches of an oak tree (the dead man's point of view is given, as well). There are no clues to the man's identity, which leads to wonderfully spare meditations on identity itself. This first installment in Kallentoft's crime series is a splendid representative of the Swedish crime novel, in all its elegance and eeriness. Copyright 2012 Booklist Reviews.

Yes, another Swedish thriller, this one the first in a series of four books starring Supt. Malin Fors, a thirtysomething divorced mother serving on the police force in a remote town. Her first outing takes her on a manhunt for someone ghastly. Watch for all your thriller fans.

In a small, frozen town in the north of Sweden, Supt. Malin Fors combines heavy brooding with a strong work ethic. When the town outcast is found naked, beaten, and hanging from a tree, Malin and the rest of the police force must devote all their resources to finding the killers. But a motley family of degenerates, a nosy journalist, and a cult based on ritualistic debauchery and sacrifice all stand in the way of a clean, speedy investigation. VERDICT Though Malin is a smart, intuitive, and strong-willed heroine, the book runs too long, and the incessant descriptions of rape, torture, and murder unfortunately have the effect of an icy hammer to the head. Furthermore, the intermittent passages given over to the hanging man's monologs are distracting, overwritten, and ultimately pointless. Still, novelist Kallentoft's (Pesatas) debut thriller will likely appeal to some fans of Scandinavian mysteries, who will exult in another northern European detective series. [See Prepub Alert, 12/19/11; previewed in Kristi Chadwick's Genre Spotlight feature, "Crime Travels," LJ 4/15/12.—Ed.]—Jennifer Rogers, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community Coll. Lib., Richmond, VA

First published in Sweden in 2007, Kallentoft's psychologically astute, carefully crafted first novel featuring Linköping police inspector Malin Fors, a 33-year-old divorced mother, centers on the death of 330-pound Bengt Andersson, an eccentric loner found beaten, cut, and hanging naked from a solitary oak in the frozen countryside. As part of the investigation, Fors and her partner, Zeke Martinsson, look into Andersson's disjointed family history, the teenage boys who tormented him, and the ritualistic nature of the murder that a local history professor likens to a "midwinter blood" sacrifice of Viking vintage. The case develops with painstaking slowness, allowing for a detailed, nuanced portrait of the relationship of Fors with her 13-year-old daughter as well as with her fellow officers. Meanwhile, the murder victim's spirit floats around, offering its wry observations on the proceedings. Readers will look forward to the next three volumes in the series, already scheduled to appear in successive years. Agent: Joakim Hansson, Nordin Agency. (June)