Killer’s Island (The Maria Wern Series)
The White Sea-Lady myth is said to be as old as the ancient Swedish island Gotland has been inhabited. It tells the story of a young bride who drowned on her wedding night and returns as a ghost to lure men into the watery depths. This legend resurfaces when a nurse is found murdered in a wedding dress. Detective Inspector Maria Wern investigates, but it becomes clear that the police are also under observation by a seemingly pervasive killer.
List Price: $ 14.95
Price:
Related Anna Maria Island Products
excellent Scandinavian thriller,
I really enjoyed this novel. The characters were drawn so beautifully. Even the people we don’t get to know are fleshed out and made so complex, so human, that we miss them when they’re gone. Jansson brilliantly evokes the individual personalities and the consequences of violence, and the ending was surprising but plausible.
A great thriller written superbly. The next in the series is Strange Bird.
Note: The Kindle edition had a few typos but nothing horrible, and the maps rendered well.
Was this review helpful to you?
|“When murder’s taken place, evil seems to lurk in every alley.”,
We meet each victim prior to their deathly scenarios, begin to understand their aspirations and failed dreams, their daily struggles, the murderer closing in like an avenging angel, leaving Gotland detectives scrambling for answers before yet another unsuspecting victim is chosen. While the myth is romantic, the devastation to families and neighbors by the stealthy killer has all too human consequences, detectives finally making sense of disparate clues, but perhaps too late to avert another tragedy. The visual images are striking, the death tableau disturbing and the identity of the killer shocking. Jansson beautifully captures the emotional damage sustained by those living on Gotland, touched by the particular horror of a psychotic killer without conscience. Luan Gaines/2012.
Was this review helpful to you?
|Would like to read earlier books in series,
One of the main protagonists. policewoman Maria Wern, is attacked early in the novel when coming to the help of a young boy being viciously assaulted by a group of men. The boy later dies, and Maria is left with the trauma of her own injuries as well as not having been able to prevent the crime.
The story line fans out at this stage, introducing several new characters. Nurse Linn Bogren, who is soon murdered in cold blood, beheaded and displayed in a public park dressed as a bride. Harry Molin, her hypochondriac neighbour. Erika, Maria’s colleague involved in the murder investigation, and Anders Ahlström, her love interest and a doctor at the local clinic, who saw all the murder victims shortly before their death. And then there is the old legend of the White Sea-Lady, which bears uncanny resemblance to the way the murder victim Linn Bogren has been displayed. As police are frantically trying to find the murderer before he claims any more lives, Erika herself may be becoming the focus of the ruthless killer.
Apparently this is the 11th book in the Maria Wern series, and in the beginning of the novel I did have the impression of arriving half-way through a movie – whilst this did not end up presenting a problem with the plot, being familiar with the characters may have helped understand some of the complicated relationships and motivations. Due to the many storylines in the beginning, the book read a bit clumsy and disjointed for me, and it took until about halfway through the story to connect some of the threads and work out the who-is-who and what-is-what. At this point, the pace really picked up, the mystery deepened and the threat to one of the main characters had me frantically turning the pages to find out how it would all work out. True to its genre, the thriller does not shy away from exposing the darker side of human nature, and the isolation and loneliness often present in our midst, reminiscent of cold dark winter nights. Some of the characters’ motivations were a bit questionable, but cannot be commented on without having read earlier books in the series and understanding their backgrounds. I personally would have liked to see the legend of the White Sea-Lady feature a bit more in the novel, which could have added a stronger element of mystery – it had such potential to chill!
All in all, the book was a perfect way to chill on a hot day, and despite the few issues mentioned I really enjoyed the journey. I would be interested to read more from this author, especially some of the earlier books in the series, who are currently only available in Swedish. For fans of Nordic fiction, this is definitely worth a try.
Was this review helpful to you?
|