Reviews

• “Nowhere does the label ‘Nordic Noir’ fit as perfectly as for the Swedish author Lina Bengtsdotter’s crime novels. Here, everything is truly dark, from the traumatic events of the plot to the investigator’s personal story and current private life. /…/ In addition, there is a well-conveyed description of the mood of Sweden out in the small villages that previously subsisted on agriculture, forestry and industry, but that the tech society has now pushed aside. /…/ The emphasis in this heavy crime novel is on the strenuous investigative work, which benefits from [protagonist] Charlie’s personal knowledge of motifs and emotions produced by life in the Swedish gutter, so to speak.”

• “One of the best crime novels right now.”

• “The main character is the greatest treasure; it’s rare that women get to be portrayed like this in crime fiction novels.”

• “An atmospheric and suspenseful story. /…/ Lina Bengtsdotter has her own uniquely suggestive tone in the stories of Charlie Lager, and you gladly let yourself be pulled into the well-written darkness.”

• “Lina Bengtsdotter’s third standalone novel in the Charlie Lager series serves up an introduction that makes a racing heartbeat seem like a meditative state. /…/ And just like with previous books, it is in the brokenness, where the pen is at its sharpest. Heart palpitations in all glory, but social vulnerability is really what Bengtsdotter’s writing is really about.”

• “The language is fast-paced, unsentimental yet insightful. The depiction is realistic, and it’s exciting to read.”

• “The third novel about Detective Inspector Charlie Lager is, just like For the Missing and For the Dead, written with warmth and sensitivity. /…/ The prose is straightforward but effective, and the plot diverts from the typical mold of a crime novel. Here there’s more relationships and genuine emotions, rather than just a single-minded focus on dead bodies. /…/ Thought-provoking with regards to the human psyche.”

• “Bengtsdotter skillfully develops a number of possible leads; we continuously encounter new potential suspects. /…/ This is truly Lina Bengsdotter in her element. She has a vast knowledge, feel and ability for depicting young women’s vulnerability and the various consequences of their difficult experiences, and she does so with great dimension. /…/ Both main plotlines offer a fantastic reading experience, and it takes quite a while before the reader can detect an interconnection. Once these connections are unveiled it is as if well-coordinated explosions are set off on various sites. /…/ I thoroughly like the protagonist Charlie Lager, who continues to evolve in this novel. /…/ On many levels it’s a complex story that Lina Bengtsdotter tells. Yet it’s never difficult to follow: the author holds the reader’s hand tight through every twist and turn.”

• “[In Beatrice] it’s disturbingly realistically portrayed how money changes everything; for better and worse. /…/ Lina Bengtsdotter is well versed on youth mental health and on the need of snobs to build facades of competency. Here there are some truly epic highlights about the reality in society’s fringes in 2020.”

• “Lina Bengtsdotter sticks to her themes and parallel narratives, but key variations make it feel refreshing nonetheless. /…/ The narrating voice Sara (…) has been placed in a former mental hospital, now a hold for broken girls, wanted by no one. Those particular girls and the fact that their stories are granted space gives an extra dimension.”

• “A gripping crime novel about broken souls, betrayal and severed family ties.”

• “The thrills persevere to the very last pages in this exceptionally well-written novel, where the plot is frightening and pressing, but the focus nevertheless is on the characters – and superbly so.”

• “Lina Bengtsdotter has written an engaging and thrilling tale, where those who have read her previous books are also bestowed with new keys to Charlie Lager’s past.”

• “Bengtsdotter interweaves multiple stories in a skillful way that serves to captivate the reader all the way to the final pages. Beatrice is the kind of novel that is simply unputdownable, and one wants to continue reading just a few pages more and then some. It’s evident that Bengtsdotter portrays a town and a place she knows like the back of her hand, seeing as the mileu depictions are equally spot on in all her three books. The character Charlie Lager is everything but flat or boring and, as the reader, one detects that there are more stories to be told. /…/ Just like in her previous works it’s relationships and mental health which are at the core, wrapped in a blanket of thrills. Personally I hope [Bengtsdotter] will write more books about Charlie Lager, but then I won’t finish it in two days, but savour it. A week at the very least.”

• “[An] evocative crime novel.”