camilla lackberg, the ice princess
Returning to her hometown after the funeral of her parents, writer, Erica Falck, finds a community on the brink of tragedy. The death of her childhood friend, Alex, is just the beginning. Her wrists slashed, her body frozen in an ice-cold bath, it seems like she has taken her own life.
While Lola took up residence on the desk as a bookend, I settled down in her usual spot on the chaise longue for the afternoon to read this latest fuel to my Scandinavian crime fiction obsession.
I should have been gritting my teeth at some of the elements – the commission to write a biographical tribute being a tenuous stepping off point for Falck’s investigation, the small-town secret that had to be unearthed, and the obvious romance between amateur and professional detective - but there was a lot to enjoy. There was a strong sense of place and local culture – any book that has that much coffee-drinking deserves plaudits – and the romance was grounded in the realism with two unsure people worried about their bodies. Worth a read, and I may pick up others in the series.
P.S. On the back cover, the publisher feels it necessary not only to credit the translator, but to mention that this is Stieg Larsson’s and Henning Mankell’s translator, as if an added assurance of quality. I’m not dissing the translation – it flowed well – but am just mildly amused at the publisher’s efforts.
