A review by thebooktrail88
The Girl in the Woods by Camilla Läckberg

4.0

Visit the locations in the novel

This had all the Lackberg magic and more. Tough subjects - death of two children years apart, abuse of immigrants and women suspected of being witches (The Witch is the title in Swedish) but this all worked well with the familiar Patrik and Erica domestic storyline.

Two girls suspected of a murder. One returns back to the town, years later, now a famous actress. The other one lives nearby, her name changed and with a family of her own. A girl goes missing from the same farm as little Stella did years earlier. The two girls confessed and then recanted their confession. Now another girl has gone missing from the exact same place. Coincidence?

Well Fjallbacka just got a bit more chilling! There's jealousy, small farms with very bad vibes, isolated lakes and trees, and a refugee centre outside the town....and guess who the first suspects are of this latest murder? The book looks at these issues well. Opinions of locals, society at large of what kind of people these immigrants must be...Very apt for today.

The murder mystery and history of the two girls suspected of murder was interesting. One glamorous and famous, the other quietly living nearby. The two cases of the missing girls is also told in varying chapters and this works well. Two victims, two murderers.But is this the case?

The historical and witch themes of the book took this to another, more complex, yet intriguing level. AT the start I found this confusing and was this going to be completely necessary to the plot? WEll , yes of course, this is Camilla Lackberg. She wove it into a spell by the end.

A great novel from Camilla. I miss Patrik and Erica (I read the other books ages ago) and it's good to be back. Roll on the next one!