The Ice Princess (Patrik Hedstrom, Book 1)
Hardcover – Bargain Price, June 15, 2010
Description
From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. At the start of Läckberg's haunting U.S. debut, the first of her seven novels set in the Swedish coastal town of Fjällbacka, biographer Erica Falck returns home to sort through her deceased parents' belongings and work on her next book. But this is not the same hometown she grew up in. Summer tourists are turning the former fishing village into a thriving resort, and Erica's controlling brother-in-law is pressuring her to cash in by selling the family home. The apparent suicide of childhood friend Alexandra Wijkner contributes to Erica's grief. Once inseparable, they drifted apart before Alex's family abruptly moved away, and Erica feels compelled to write a novel about why the beautiful Alex would kill herself. Läckberg skillfully details how horrific secrets are never completely buried and how silence can kill the soul. A parallel between the town's downward spiral and the fate of one of Fjällbacka's wealthiest families adds texture. (June) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist *Starred Review* Murray, who has translated the works of both Henning Mankell and Stieg Larsson, adds another Scandinavian crime star to his résumé with this subtle rendering of Lackberg’s debut, a number-one best-seller in Sweden and the winner of France’s 2008 Grand Prix de Littérature Policière for Best International Crime Novel. Erica, a thirtysomething biographer struggling with her latest book, deals with her grief over her parents’ untimely death and her mixed feelings about returning to her hometown after years in Stockholm. On a whim, she visits her childhood friend Alex only to find her dead in the bathtub. The grieving parents ask Erica to write an article about Alex for a local newsletter, which forces her to try to make sense of her friend’s life and death. As Erica delves deeper into Alex’s past, she begins to work with a local police officer, Patrik, another childhood friend, and together they uncover secrets that some people would greatly prefer were left secret. Set in winter in the coastal town of Fjallbacka, the novel uses the off-season quiet in the small village—many of the houses are empty—to create a chilling atmosphere in which silence drives suspense. This excellent thriller is a must-read for fans of Scandinavian crime literature and will especially appeal to those who enjoy Asa Larsson’s Rebecka Martinsson novels, as Rebecka and Erica are of a similar age and both return to the remote villages of their childhoods. --Jessica Moyer “The hottest crime genre of the moment is Nordic noir and Swedish writer Camilla Läckberg (who shares Stieg Larsson’s translator) is one of the reasons. As with all Scandinavian murder mysteries, it’s darker, bleaker, and the plot far more sinister than similar American fare. Larsson fans who give Läckberg’s novel a chance to seduce them will be rewarded.” ( USA Today )“[T]he writing is highly atmospheric and the pacing keeps the pages turning. Fjällbacka itself is a compelling presence in the narrative, an ideal setting for this small-town murder mystery.” ( Debra Ginsberg - Shelf Awareness )“Ingenious. Strong portrayals and ice-cold suspense.” ( Metropol [France] )“Starred Review. Haunting...Läckberg skillfully details how horrific secrets are never completely buried and how silence can kill the soul.” ( Publishers Weekly )“Camilla Läckberg has written seven blockbuster novels in her native Swedish but, until now, no one has published any of them in the United States. Now Pegasus Books has stepped forward.” ( The New York Times )“A top-class Scandinavian writer.” ( The Times [London] )“Chilly, deceptive and lucid, just like the icy environment it describes.” ( The Literary Review )“The plot is simply superb. A book that you can’t put down.” ( Sala Allehanda (Sweden) )“A more than welcome addition to the growing ranks of Scandinavian fiction. With her sharp eye for emotional nuances and psychological insight, Fjallbacka and its crimes and people will soon be as popular here as they are in her native Sweden.” ( Peter Robinson, author of All the Colors of Darkness )“Heart-stopping—a masterclass in Scandinavian crime writing.” ( Val McDermid, author of the Dr. Tony Hill and Carol Jordan mysteries ) Camilla Läckberg worked as an economist in Stockholm until a course in creative writing triggered a drastic career change. Her novels have all become #1 bestsellers in Sweden. Her thriller The Ice Princess , winner of the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière for Best International Crime Novel, has been published in over twenty-five countries. She lives in Stockholm with her husband and five children. Read more
Features & Highlights
- The American debut of internationally bestselling Swedish writer Camilla Lackberg’s haunting first novel.
- Returning to her hometown of Fjallbacka after the funeral of her parents, writer Erica Falck finds a community on the brink of tragedy. The death of her childhood friend, Alex, is just the beginning. Her wrists slashed, her body frozen in an ice-cold bath, it seems that she has taken her own life. Erica conceives a book about the beautiful but remote Alex, one that will answer questions about their own shared past. While her interest grows into an obsession, local detective Patrik Hedstrom is following his own suspicions about the case. But it is only when they start working together that the truth begins to emerge about a small town with a deeply disturbing past.
