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.

April 1, 2019
A lawyer scrutinizes the investigation and trial that imprisoned a scientist for murdering a teen in this intriguing legal thriller. The victim carefully prepares herself and a meal, but the lover's visit goes terribly wrong, and 15-year-old Katrin Björk is found beaten to death in her house after her terrified dog barks so much that the neighbors call the police. Stig Ahlin, the research scientist convicted of the murder, has been in jail for 13 years when lawyer Sophia Weber is asked to revisit the case and petition for a new trial. Persson Giolito (Quicksand, 2016), a retired Swedish lawyer, toggles between two time periods to give background on Katrin and Stig and the police investigation of the murder. Because Stig admits he was sleeping with Katrin and is also being investigated for allegedly abusing his daughter, Chief Inspector Bertil Lundberg--who's about to become a father--has little doubt about his guilt and proceeds accordingly. The press dubs him Professor Death. In the novel's present, Sophia pieces together a vital flaw in the investigation and prosecution involving questionable evidence from a too-helpful forensic dentist. Something clicks for her about the dog at the crime scene. A journalist offers another angle on the past. Katrin morphs from model student to bad seed. Stig has a thing for prostitutes and biting. The author shows unusual restraint in keeping violence offstage while keeping the reader guessing right up to the two very different twists that make for a gut-punching finale. Sophia was featured in a previous novel along with her irascible grandfather and a love interest in one DI Adam Sahla, who resurfaces here. An ongoing series would be welcome given the author's legal savvy, well-drawn characters, and insightful look at the subtle variations of guilt. No courtroom fireworks but smart, well-written legal and procedural drama.

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May 15, 2019
Award-winning Swedish author Giolito excels at portraying those accused of horrible crimes. Her previous novel, Quicksand (2017), focused on the trial of a teenage girl who was accused of a school shooting; this one follows the quest for a new trial of Stig Ahlin, a man accused of being both a pedophile and a murderer. Ostensibly, the work is a legal thriller starring Sophia Weber, the lawyer who may or may not take on the task of trying to free Ahlin. As in Quicksand, however, the plot frames what is the best part of the writing, an intricate examination of the psyches of criminals and those who work with them, accompanied by pointed questions about who is served by the justice system. While this is a fine novel on its own merits, it is perhaps a bit less compelling than its predecessor. Still, both novels are great reads, and libraries should have them on hand for when Netflix airs its production of Quicksand on April 15, 2019.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)