Snowdrift

Starred review from October 12, 2020
Tursten’s spellbinding third crime novel featuring Det. Insp. Embla Nyström picks up eight days after the end of 2019’s Winter Grave, which closed with Embla receiving a late-night phone call from her childhood best friend, Lollo, who disappeared 14 years earlier. Suspected abductors were Gothenburg gangsters, the Stavic brothers—Milo, Luca, and Kador. When a cousin of Embla’s calls for help to solve a murder in one of his rented guesthouses, she’s shocked to find the victim is Milo. A second jolt comes when she learns that Luca was killed nearby on the same night. Challenged to solve the murders, Embla anxiously seeks the whereabouts of Kador, who has vanished in Croatia. The stabbing of a teenager at a nightclub thickens the plot. Aided by various police officials, including Irene Huss, Tursten’s other series lead, Embla seeks to uncover the truth about what happened to Lollo. The action includes a spectacular chase sequence, a bombshell twist that turns the cases around, and an explosive firestorm. This stunning page-turner is unarguably the best in the series. Agent: Anneli Høier, Leonhardt & Høier Literary (Sweden).

Narrator Stina Nielsen introduces Detective Inspector Embla Nystrom, who is also a sharpshooter and boxer. Listeners join Nystrom and 9-year-old Elliot, the son of her ex, as they plan a hunting trip. Nystrom is called away when a body is found in a remote guesthouse. She is shocked to find that the dead man is gangster Milo Stavic, who kidnapped her best friend when they were 14 years old. Nystrom is assisted in her investigation by the charming Olle Tillman. The brutal weather, luscious food, and stunning scenery of Sweden add atmosphere. Nielsen impressively shifts between a promising romance, horrifying danger, and lightning-fast action. A treat is the surprise appearance of Detective Inspector Irene Huss and others from Tursten's earlier series. S.G.B. � AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine