Reviews

• “If you thought a Swedish summer brought only bright sunshine, beautiful countryside and rural charms, then you haven’t yet entered the spine-tingling world created by a former police officer who has magically morphed into a master storyteller. /…/ End of Summer is one of the classiest Scandi thrillers you will read this year… a mesmerising amalgam of menace, suspense, festering secrets, and a Scandinavian rural landscape where massive changes are underway, old enmities live on, loyalties are being tested, and the impending summer rains pose a constant threat. /…/ As always with De la Motte, the sense of time and place are exquisitely wrought, the cast of vibrant, superbly drawn characters play their parts to perfection, and the acute psychological observations add emotional ballast to a thrilling and labyrinthine plot. A top-notch addition to what is proving to be a treat for every season!”

• “An atmospherically dense book reminiscent of Henning Mankell’s early crime novels. /…/ Anders de la Motte writes profoundly without the tension dwindling for a second.”

• “Endless psychological suspense.”

• “What you have in your hands is a masterpiece of crime fiction, a very hot competitor for thriller of the year. /…/ Anders de la Motte proves once again with his End of Summer that he is one of Scandinavia’s most ingenious crime writers, just as grand as Jussi Adler-Olsen. He writes absolutely murderously. His books are definitely unbeatable in terms of suspense.”

• “Intense suspense that lasts till the final page. /…/ [End of Summer] adheres closely to the traditional literary novel and is characterized by something that might be called a distinctive Nordic melancholy as well as an almost Bergmanian study of interpersonal relationships.”

• “He delivers an unexpectedly melancholic slow-burner of a crime novel with immense credibility. /…/ Anders de la Motte never stops surprising.”

• “End of Summer is exceptional because the author brilliantly combines great character portrayals with a high level of suspense. /…/ [Anders de la Motte] further seasons the plot with beautiful nature and milieu depictions.”

• “A sorrowful and harrowingly realistic murder mystery about the rough fringes of society, power and despair, those who return and those who escape forever.”

• “End of Summer is beautifully written and both captivates and chafes. Anders de la Motte shows yet again that one shouldn’t think one knows him completely. He’s exactly the kind of author the genre needs more of.”

• “[Anders de la Motte] has a firm command of the narrative and psychological depiction. Veronica becomes a thoroughly alive character, and it’s easy to get caught up in her pain and struggle.”

• “In End of Summer [Anders de la Motte] shows that he also masters the slow suspense narrative, and a totally different kind of story-building.”

• “Atmospheres are built, and are almost tangible. /…/ [End of Summer is] a rare crime novel, well written, engaging and melancholic. It can’t be put down, the plot impresses, and the conclusion surprises. /…/ Last year, Anders de la Motte received the award for 2015’s best crime novel. This book is just as brilliant.”

• “End of Summer is a truly suspenseful Swedish crime novel that succeeds in breathing new life into the worn clichés of the genre. /…/ The environmental depictions of nature and furnishings are exquisite and suggestive. It’s the kind of book you’ll read in one sitting, and one you can’t put down until you’ve reached the surprising ending.”

• “Absolutely one of the best books this year. /…/ The book is a crime novel, but just as much a family drama. It’s extremely exciting and totally unpredictable. Fantastic and credible characters. And very, very gripping.”

• “From having previously written a little more hard-boiled, urban crime fiction, Anders de la Motte has now crafted a crime novel where the events take place in the countryside of southern Sweden. The suspense is more about a small community’s secrets and the resulting unease when secrets are revealed, and the past catches up with the present. The novel is reminiscent of [Henning Mankell’s] early books about Wallander, and I must admit that I couldn’t let go of the book, not even when I had finished it.”

• “End of Summer is the kind of crime fiction that leans towards being a psychological thriller, uncommon in contemporary Sweden. This time, Anders de la Motte’s finely tuned language is also given more room as the pace is slowed down in comparison with his previous novels, and the depiction of the southern Swedish countryside is characterized by both credibility and an air of magic. In this book there’s quite simply a sense of presence largely lacking in the Swedish crime fiction scene of today.”