Mari Jungstedt Unspoken

Unspoken

Mari Jungstedt

St. Martin's, Sep 2007, $23.95

ISBN: 9780312363772

On wintry Gotland Island, Sweden Police Detective Superintendent Anders Knutas leads the investigation into the homicide of alcoholic former news photographer Henry Dahlstrцm. They uncover a tenuous link between Henry and missing fourteen year old Fanny Jansson. Before his murder Henry won a lot of money at the racetrack while Fanny cared for the horses at a local stable.

The police find Fanny's strangled corpse on a remote heath. They also discover poorly shot pictures of Fanny in explicit poses with a male stranger in Dahlstrцm's darkroom. Knutas believes an American working at the stables committed the double murders, but the suspect is away on vacation. Stockholm based TV journalist Johan Berg is assigned to report on the two cases, which enables him to see his married lover Emma Winarve, whom he first met last summer (see UNSEEN).

The official investigation is cleverly designed to keep the audience attention on this strong Swedish police procedural. The cast is fully developed especially the contrasts between the superintendent who does not want to be there and the reporter who does (but not for the story). However, with a terrific whodunit filled with strong characterizations, the island in winter steals the show as readers will feel the bitter cold while the story line twists and turns in the wind.

Harriet Klausner