Reviews

Interesting and entertaining, but ultimately too sad and depressing, as one of the main characters of the book had the most miserable, tortured life, and it became increasingly difficult to read about it. Also, Ms. Sten's method of leaving important character conditions unresolved (until the next book of course) is getting a little old, since there is no closure unless you indeed read the next book, which may or may not be the case. 3.5 stars.

crafalsk264's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

3.5

This is the third book in the series Sandhamn Murders set on the Swedish island of Sandhamn. Among the professionals from Stockholm who have a house to escape to is Nora Linde , an attorney and a mother of two who comes to the island after discovering her physician husband has been having an affair. The boys come across a severed human arm and the local police detective is her childhood friend, Thomas Andereasson. The arm turns out to belong to a 20 year old woman who has been missing for more than four months. Nora and Thomas renew their friendship while looking into the young woman’s last few hours. As the residents lives begin to show cracks from their secrets, Nora and Thomas have to sift through to find out what is relevant to this case. There is a tie in to another story line from the early 1900s that we follow through flashbacks until they converge at the end. This story line includes a graphic description of child abuse and readers are cautioned to use discretion.

This series is described as Nordic Noir which is a perfect reference to the brooding gloom that seems to have settled over the island. They soon find that the young woman is not quite the innocent that her parents believe she is. I have read both of the first two and think they were better, but since it is a series and may be in transaction. I will continue to follow the next. Recommend to readers of mystery/thrillers, Sweden and noir detective procedural.

ecka2's review against another edition

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2.0

http://frokenchristina.blogspot.se/2010/09/to-hold-grudge.html

nushhetti's review against another edition

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3.0

Book 3 of this series and again a very different murder. I like the way the author is able to keep Nora involved in the storyline despite her not being part of the official police investigation.
The storyline being developed in both timelines kept me engaged. But once again just want to mention how much the Hienrik character annoys me.

natashaniezgoda's review against another edition

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3.0

Ummm. Not my favorite in the series so far.

The beginning started off with so much promise. I was immediately pulled in by the drama surrounding the main characters. There were high stakes for both Nora and Thomas in each of their personal lives. Love lost and love found. But then the disappearance/murder mixed with the century old family quarrel was a stretch for me.

The main plot didn’t come together. There was so much build up for something as cliche as “favoritism” and “revenge”. And if you’re going to develop a sub-story to substantiate the emotion turmoil of a situation then it needs to be equally as strong as the main plot line. And, to me, it wasn’t.

Also, to be frank, there were way too many unnecessary characters. Like Pelle... why was he in this? Because the book needed another creeper? And Mats the profiler? Again, what did he bring?

I dunno. In this case, less is more should have been practiced.

The book ends on a cliff hanger, which was smart. But it’s starting to get a little Grey’s Anatomy with the drama.

pelargonia's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.0

herthrillingreads's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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