Sun and Shadow: An Erik Winter Novel
(Libby/OverDrive eBook, Kindle)

Eric Winter, at 40, is Sweden's youngest chief inspector, but his brow is already starting to furrow in the manner of Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander. In this American debut of what promises to be a superior procedural series, a plethora of seemingly insoluble problems contribute to Winter's sense of growing discontent: his father is dying in Spain; his pregnant girlfriend is moving into his apartment; and a bloody double murder suggests a serial killer. As in the Wallander series, the focus here lands not only on the hero but also on his entire team, as Edwardson details the slow grind of the investigative process. The action, beginning in fall 1999 and extending into spring 2000, effectively uses the Y2K panic to heighten the sense of troubled waters approaching that grips Winter and those around him. The comparison to Mankell is obvious, but in many ways, this series harkens further back, to Sjowall and Wahloo's early Martin Beck novels, in which another youngish Swedish inspector was beginning to realize that sometimes a crime's solution solves nothing. --Bill Ott Copyright 2005 Booklist

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) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

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 (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

The American debut of Sweden's Detective Chief Inspector Erik Winter, who's about to turn 40, become a father and scour Gothenburg for a double murderer. Returning from his father's funeral in Marbella, Spain, DCI Winter lands an appalling case. The victims, Christian and Louise Valker, were found in their apartment weeks after someone had severed and transposed their heads and left a cryptic, bloody message on the wall. Complicating the investigation are security concerns for the forthcoming millenium celebration and the wanderings of 40 extras garbed as policemen for a film-in-progress. The lies that two couples who were sexually adventurous with the Valkers tell about their relationship result in more murder. Slogging police work jogs a few memories but also presents a plethora of leads that severely tax the officers, especially Winter, who's still dealing with his father's death and his deepening commitment to the pregnant Angela; Simon Morelius, who's traumatized by his work and about to quit; Greger Bartram, who hacks into department files to cover himself with glory; and Lars Bergenhem, who's incapacitated by crippling migraines. When Angela is abducted by the killer, the force goes into overdrive to wrap up the case before she becomes another statistic. Edwardson, winner of three Crime Writers' Awards from the Swedish Academy, has penned a solid procedural neatly balancing the professional and personal lives of Winter and Co. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Eric Winter, at 40, is Sweden's youngest chief inspector, but his brow is already starting to furrow in the manner of Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander. In this American debut of what promises to be a superior procedural series, a plethora of seemingly insoluble problems contribute to Winter's sense of growing discontent: his father is dying in Spain; his pregnant girlfriend is moving into his apartment; and a bloody double murder suggests a serial killer. As in the Wallander series, the focus here lands not only on the hero but also on his entire team, as Edwardson details the slow grind of the investigative process. The action, beginning in fall 1999 and extending into spring 2000, effectively uses the Y2K panic to heighten the sense of troubled waters approaching that grips Winter and those around him. The comparison to Mankell is obvious, but in many ways, this series harkens further back, to Sjowall and Wahloo's early Martin Beck novels, in which another youngish Swedish inspector was beginning to realize that sometimes a crime's solution solves nothing. ((Reviewed June 1 & 15, 2005)) Copyright 2005 Booklist Reviews.

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.

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.