More Swedish Crime: The Preacher

I recently finished the second of the Fjallbacka trilogy by Camilla Lackberg – The Preacher. It was in insanely absorbing read – I finished it in 2 days (two days of complete bliss) and was left wanting to run out and pick up the third, The Stonecutter.

In The Preacher we once again follow Patrik Hedstrom as he attempts to unravel the mystery surrounding a dead woman they find in woods. This time though it’s not someone they know. And she’s been left, naked, on 2 complete skeletons belonging to women that went missing in the area 20 years ago.

Super creepy right? Patrik is under pressure to solve this case – its the middle of a beautiful summer and these bodies are driving the tourists to pack up and leave. Add to that the fact that Patrick and his partner Erica Falck are expecting their first child any day, you’ll forgive him if he starts to think some seriously crazy thoughts. Everything he learns seems to point back to this one well-known local family.

The Preacher takes you much more into the inner workings of the police station – reintroduces you to that motley cast of characters that include an eager young officer ready to do his due diligence, a couple of old hands that are just as likely to be spending the day at a rest stop with a picnic as they are doing actual police work and a police chief who may or may not have a mail order bride in the wings. It’s a wonder Patrik is able to get anything done really.

I really enjoyed this book as well although this one was more Patrik Hedstrom-centric and I found myself waiting for the bit when Erica Falck would make her presence felt more. Erica just stays home dealing with a bunch of unwelcome houseguests, while Patrik runs all over town trying to figure out this case.

Lackberg is really good about taking you down a path that you think you’ve figured out, only to ensure that it dead ends and you are left wondering how you ever went there in the first place. She rewards her reader and then frustrates you. Round and round we go until the, very satisfying, conclusion that has you wondering how you didn’t see it all coming from the beginning.

That, or I am dumb as a bag of nails. I guess that that’s not completely outside of the realm of possibilities…

I’m anxious to get my hands on the next book which shouldn’t be too hard – all of a sudden Lackberg’s books are popping up everywhere! Great summer reads! And although they are billed as a trilogy, having flipped through a few it seems more like a series at this point. More to read!