As you have probably figured out by now if you have been following this blog, I have spent a lot of time trying mysteries written by Scandinavian authors. Unspoken by Mari Jungstedt is probably one of the less successful of them, although it has an interesting plot.
The novel is set in winter on the island of Gotland. Fourteen-year-old Fanny is missing. She seems to have no friends and only an unstable mother to care about her. She spends most of her time caring for the horses at the local racing stable.
Seemingly unconnected is the murder of an alcoholic photographer named Henry Dahlström. But Dahlström recently won a large sum of money at the race track. Inspector Anders Knutas and his team are investigating both incidents.
As I said, the plot for this novel is interesting, but the writing is so choppy as to be distracting, and the characters seem undefined. In addition, a love affair between Johan Berg, a reporter who gets involved in the investigation, and a married woman seems completely pointless, although I understand this is a continuing relationship from a previous book.
I noticed recently that there is a blog that evaluates book cover art, so I’ll just say this, sort of tongue in cheek. I was struck by how atmospheric the cover to this book was and just wish that half of that atmosphere spilled over into the novel.
What? Me Read? 