The Disappeared

A dog finds a dead body: a young woman cut into two big pieces, but missing her head and hands. It becomes clear that the story is about finding out who made a snuff film and whether the film is even real. The story line was well structured with flashes forward to transcripts from an internal affairs investigation into how things went so horribly wrong keep the momentum going. A real page turner.

One positive knock-on effect of reading Stieg Larsson's Girl trilogy (or two out of three, anyway) is that I have developed an interest in Scandinavian crime novels, but where Larsson's macho fantasy failed to convince, Kristina Ohlsson's writing succeeds with style. This is actually the third in the series about detectives Fredrika Bergman and Alex Recht, but apart from missing out on their backstory, reading out of order didn't ruin the story.The body of a student found in a shallow grave and an old woman in a nursing home who is hiding dark secrets behind a vow of silence. How are the two connected? Alex Recht, Fredrika Bergman and Peder Rydh are determined to find out, but first the detectives must face their own personal demons. The mystery is neatly paced, with the usual red herrings and steady supply of fresh (or less than fresh, in this case) victims, and the central characters are all believable, which makes a satisfying change, after Lisbeth Salander. Each chapter ends with a transcript of dialogue from an internal affairs investigation into the detectives' handling of the case, treading a thin line between trailer and spoiler for the outcome of the mystery. Who is putting the investigation into jeopardy? I did find the fact that all three professionals were personally connected to either the victim or the suspects slightly far-fetched, but the resulting tension is worth the suspension of disbelief. I guessed the sub-mystery, and found the identity of the murderer slightly disappointing, but overall, an engrossing and well-written read. I will definitely look up more of Kristina Ohlsson's novels!

I think I need to take a break from mystery...three in three days is making my head spin. But Ohlsson is making serious strides in her technique as she goes from #1 to #3 in her Bergman and Recht series: she is now able to hold several lines of plot in suspense simultaneously without any of them collapsing into
inevitability. I suppose it helps that she now has a body of work that she can use to create parallels. The weakest sections are still those where she needs to go back over plot from her previous texts. All of the characters hit new levels of "stressed outedness" in The Disappeared. Hopefully Ohlsson uses more creative vocabulary in Swedish for what comes to be translated as "stressed" in English; the word is used too frequently.

This novel was something of a disappointment to me, but not enough of a disappointment to turn me off on the series. "The Disappeared" is number three in Ohlsson's Fredrika Bergman/Alex Recht series, and I was eagerly looking forward to it, having found "Silenced" in particular a very compelling read. "The Disappeared" shares some of the positives of the earlier novels -- a high and sustained level of suspense, well rounded and (in some cases!) very likable characters, and a fluent writing style. But the improbability that occasionally popped up in the earlier novels swings into high gear in this entry. There are too many coincidences, too many links between the case and the investigators' private lives, and too many really bad people in really high places. By the time it was over my interest had descended to the level of "OK, what's she going to come up with next". It's not that expect Scandinavian mysteries to present a totally realistic portrait of modern day Scandinavian society: a lot of what's enjoyable in mystery fiction is having "the evil in our midst" identified, apprehended, and taken out of circulation. But the suspension of the will to disbelieve, for me at least, has limits. Now, all that said, I am still looking forward to reading the latest installment in the series, "Hostage". Ohlsson may go over the top, plotwise, but she is a really good mystery writer.

I quite discovered Swedish author Kristina Ohlsson by accident when I picked up her first book "Unwanted". Fortuitous accident - because it was the first in a fantastic crime series featuring Investigative analyst Fredrika Bergman. The third book, Disappeared, is newly released and it too was a fantastic read. The prologue's opening lines, set in the past, grabbed me immediately.... "When the film begins she has no idea what she is about to see. Nor does she realise what devastating consequences this film and the decisions she then makes will have on the rest of her life." Present day. Two years after she disappears, the dismembered body of Rebecca Tolle is found by a dog walker in a shallow grave. When the crime scene team expand their excavation of the grave site, they find another body. But the second body has been buried for at least thirty years. Are the two connected? Is this the work of a serial killer spanning thirty years? Frederika and the special unit of the Swedish Federal Police are called in. Their case builds slowly, with multiple suspects - one of them close to a member of the team. I really enjoy Ohlsson's character building. She has given each main character a rich personal life that provides a more intimate reading experience. Ohlsson is extremely clever with her plotting and delivery of her story. Interspersed with the investigation are Internal Affairs interviews held after the case has ended. "You're here because you were in charge of an investigation that ended in disaster." We get wee snippets of information that heighten the tension, provide subtle clues, provide teasers - and kept this reader up far too late. Midway through, I went back to read that prologue again as the pieces started to fall into place. An intelligent, well written series (with a side of grisly) that I can easily recommend. I do hope Ohlsson plans to continue with this series.

When the body of a woman is found buried in the woods, newly bereaved Alex Recht from the Stockholm police believes it to be that of long missing student, Rebecca Trolle. Soon more bodies are found buried in the grave, but years apart. Inspector Alex Recht, Fredrika Bergman, and Peter Rydh discover that at the time of Rebecca’s death, she was obsessed with the topic of her dissertation, a former beloved children’s book author who went to prison for murdering her ex-husband. Rebecca was convinced of the author’s innocence and may have stumbled upon information proving her theory.

The novel is the third in a series featuring Fredrika Bergman and her fellow investigators as they attempt to solve the case, which develops into serial murders. Personal conflicts among the police personnel arise, complicating the investigation. The author delivers fragments of a backstory and brief glimpses of each character’s life. The characters are dark, disturbing, and fascinating. There’s an elderly children’s author who hasn’t uttered a word in decades, a former boyfriend with a troubling obsession, and a web of mystery that includes sexual assault charges, pornography and snuff films.

This was a suspenseful novel, even though it could easily have been edited to be flow a little faster. It created a great mix of psychology, urban myths and police procedure with a sense of the thriller at the end. I've enjoyed all three of the books in the series and look forward to the next one which is scheduled to come out this year.