In this new novel, a recovering drug addict, Katrine Bratterud, is almost finished with her time in rehab. One evening, contemplating her success at the shore of a lake, she senses that she is not alone. The discovery of Katrine’s corpse the following day brings detectives Frølich and Gunnarstranda onto the case and into a web of secrets and lies that stretches back generations. K.O. Dahl weaves an intricate plot, juxtaposing the selfdelusion of drug addicts with the more complex self-delusions of the well-respected middle-class people treating them.
Similar to other Frølich novels, Dahl has added a poetic and emotional flavor to an essentially police procedural through protraying the complex relationships in which the characters in the book are dealing and the challenges in their lives. As a matter of fact, this aspect of K. O. Dahl novels are more interesting than the mystery side of his plots. The result is a crime fiction, enriched with a broader treatment of a culture and the changes in which the modern Norwegian society is going through. After reading many crime stories, I have eveloped the instinct to guess the story-lines and the endings but what makes this book a notable work is a different voice. I found the writing elegant, the storyline solid and the conclusion satisfactory. Overall, it was a great read in the genre of police procedural.
We recommend this book to all the fans of Scandinavian crime fiction.
Our Rating: 5.0
