Hunting Game

Starred review from February 1, 2019
After 10 books featuring Inspector Irene Huss, Tursten launches a new series revolving around Detective Inspector Embla Nystr�m of the mobile police unit in Gothenburg, Sweden. At 28, Embla, a champion welterweight boxer, is on vacation for an annual moose hunt when things start to go wrong: a dog is poisoned, a viper in the outhouse bites the other female hunter, and a dangerous trap is found on a path. Then two of the hunters disappear, with one found dead in a nearby lake. Suspicions of foul play arise since the two were part of a close-knit trio, the third of whom had died recently in a car crash. Embla's vacation ends as she works the case and pursues her curiosity about and attraction to the newcomer to the hunt group, technocrat loner Peter Hansson, who seems to read her thoughts. Only Embla's superb physical condition saves her life in a riveting climax. Embla, still plagued by nightmares about losing her teenage best friend, is a sharp, willful, though emotionally vulnerable detective. Fans of the Huss novels in particular and Nordic noir in general will want to follow this series from its start.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)