Reviews

Lo scalpellino by Camilla Läckberg, Laura Cangemi

salicat's review against another edition

3.0

So Camilla Läckberg is supposedly considered the Swedish Agatha Christie. Hmm... I don’t know. In a well-written murder mystery, you’re not supposed to correctly guess who the killer is by the second chapter. I did. Either I’m brilliant or the author needs to ease up on the number of clues she gives out.

The story is a quick read though. Pacing works and the prose...does the job. The style isn’t up there with Tana French or Louise Penny. Some of the characters read more like caricatures. Also, I wonder if the author was using the character of Erica Falck as a mouthpiece for her own views about motherhood and mother-in-laws. Erica repeatedly went into diatribes about how sick of breastfeeding she was and how men never help with the housework. Which would be okay if this were a social treatise. Or if it actually had anything to do with the story. It didn’t. These long rants were just an annoying distraction.

I think I’ll just stick with Agatha Christie.

steller0707's review against another edition

4.0

Scandanavian mysteries are usually fun to read, and this one doesn't disappoint. It's a good psychological crime story, set in a fishing village in Sweden where a fisherman has "caught" the body of a young girl in his net. In some ways it reminds me of the British TV series, Midsomer Murders, where so many people have motive and opportunity. The story takes place as winter is ending but spring is not coming quickly. The cold and rain lend an ominous tone. The unfolding of the contemporary investigation is interspersed with flashbacks to people who lived in the region many years previously. You feel these vignettes must have some meaning - but what? Read to find out!

saltycorpse's review against another edition

4.0

Lackberg is fantastic at pacing her novels, she writes to keep you reading, and she is really great at interweaving stories and leaving clues which make her books nearly impossible to put down. I guessed who the killer was pretty early on, and who the 'flashbacks' were connected to, but even with my guesses it was still a great read. Lackberg is top-shelf when it comes to crime fiction, she's entertaining and writes characters with depth.

walkingunund's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

4.0

karenjanee's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

daphne_k's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

zubin's review against another edition

0.75

A 250 page plot stretched to 550. All the characters are just cribbing about how bad their lives are. Pages and pages of copy paste complaining. You figure out the  murderer around half way through and no real motive is given at the end. While the police officer in charge of the case solves it by watching real crime on discovery channel (I'm not kidding)
Give this one a skip if you value your time IMO. 

ir7n7_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

kadidiawc's review against another edition

dark emotional

4.0

mpenny's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

LOVED this mystery! Plenty of clues along the way while still keeping me guessing.