Beyond All Reasonable Doubt

Starred review from April 1, 2019
In this searing legal thriller from Giolito (Quicksand), law professor Hans Segerstad persuades Stockholm defense attorney Sophia Weber, a former student, to try to prove the innocence of Stig Ahlin, a medical researcher. Ahlin was convicted 13 years earlier in 1998 for the murder of 15-year-old Katrin Björk, whose body was found by police in her parents’ house after responding to neighbors’ complaints about the girl’s barking dog. Giotti builds tension by alternating between Sophia’s search for evidence to free Ahlin and flashbacks to the original police investigation. Allegations that Ahlin molested his own daughter complicate Sophia’s efforts to get a retrial. This meticulously crafted novel proves Segerstad’s bitterly ironic claim made at the time he asks Sophia to take on the case: “How could Stig Ahlin be innocent? Our police always tell the truth, our prosecutors are never careless, and the opinions of our judges never fail. Everything is perfect in our country.” Fans of Nordic noir won’t want to miss this one.

Narrator Saskia Maarleveld breathes life into the conflicted soul of defense attorney Sophia Weber as she takes on the case of Dr. Stig Ahlin, who has been convicted and imprisoned for the murder of a 15-year-old girl. Maarleveld carefully reveals Weber's thought processes. Should she let Ahlin serve his time or accept his claim of innocence and try to get him off? The more she digs, the more concerned she becomes about a flawed criminal investigation. In a tone of cold intensity and increasing dread, Maarleveld presents the brutality of the crime and Weber's subsequent reinvestigation, which could set Ahlin free. The award-winning author of QUICKSAND creates another gripping legal thriller and another captivating character begging for further adventures. R.O. � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine