thebooktrail88's review against another edition
4.0
Fjallbacka comes back to life but this time it’s the heat of the Swedish summer which seems to ad to the tension and the short tempers of the people involved in the murder hunt. Patrick and Erica may be enjoying contented bliss but this happiness seems to mirror the darkness of what is going on outside their circle. The village seems to take on a whole different setting and atmosphere to the first book which makes it all the more chilling.
The Holt Family comes under close scrutiny and dark secrets are revealed about the main figure of the family - the preacher along with his two sons one of whom committed suicide. The family secrets are revealed slowly but surely and this was good to find out just what the dynamics and real relationships of that family really were.
This is quite the crime family - a family divided by suicide , murder suspects, wealth and infighting. Add misfits and religious and criminal minds and you’ve got quite the cast list. Fascinating if not a big chilling.
The characters are more developed here and the relationship between Erica and Patrik are coming along nicely however Anna is not faring so well and I’m keen to see what happens to her. The domestic scenes can jar with the murder plot but in general these make the murder mystery all the more shocking.
You dont have to read Camilla's books in order but it helps to get a good sense of the characters and their relationships so yes I would recommend starting with The Ice Princess - and welcome to Fjallbacka!
The Holt Family comes under close scrutiny and dark secrets are revealed about the main figure of the family - the preacher along with his two sons one of whom committed suicide. The family secrets are revealed slowly but surely and this was good to find out just what the dynamics and real relationships of that family really were.
This is quite the crime family - a family divided by suicide , murder suspects, wealth and infighting. Add misfits and religious and criminal minds and you’ve got quite the cast list. Fascinating if not a big chilling.
The characters are more developed here and the relationship between Erica and Patrik are coming along nicely however Anna is not faring so well and I’m keen to see what happens to her. The domestic scenes can jar with the murder plot but in general these make the murder mystery all the more shocking.
You dont have to read Camilla's books in order but it helps to get a good sense of the characters and their relationships so yes I would recommend starting with The Ice Princess - and welcome to Fjallbacka!
gavreads's review
Synopsis
In the fishing community of Fjallbacka, life is remote, peaceful — and for some, tragically short. Foul play was always suspected in the disappearance twenty years ago of two young holidaymakers in the area. Now a young boy out playing has confirmed this grim truth. Their remains, discovered with those of a fresh victim, send the town into shock. Local detective Patrik Hedstrom, expecting a baby with his girlfriend Erica, can only imagine what it is like to lose a child. When a second young girl goes missing, Hedstrom’s attention focuses on the Hults, a feuding clan of misfits, religious fanatics and criminals. The suspect list is long but time is short — which of this family’s dark secrets will provide the vital clue?
Comments/Thoughts/Analysis
And dark secrets there are. Who would torture two young girls and then reappear 24 years later to commit the same crimes again. It can’t be a copycat as their bodies weren’t found until now, can it?
Things have moved on from The Ice Princess. And it’s not much of a spoiler to say that Erica and Patrik are expecting a child.
This is quite a neat trick on Läckberg’s part. It means that this book focuses more on Patrick and his more official investigations. Though Erica not only gives vital information but also a grounding and a humour that European crime seems so good at providing.
Läckberg’s again focuses on families but this time it’s two warning brother. One who is found dead after being accused of the murders twenty odd years ago, leaving his sons and wife in a run down farm, and the other who inherited their fathers farm and fortune and doesn’t like this ordered and balanced world disturbed.
But what’s makes Läckberg’s stories interesting is how many heads she shines a light in. She shows us the characters from the inside and out and the reader is left to puzzle out the truth of what they’ve seen and heard.
We also get to see the not only the lives that the investigation touches but also the lives of the police detectives. Some of whom are far from endearing but their characters mean that it’s quite insightful, if frustrating for Patrik and his investigation, to be with them for a while.
There is some great moments of humour especially involving uninvited guests and guests that aren’t what you expected.
We also get to see more of Erica’s sister Anna and her struggles to free herself from the control of her children. It’s upsetting to read as you can see why she does what she does as if she has no choice. I at least wanted to shout and scream to make her see sense but I think more than that she needs a knight to take her away and make her feel safe.
The crime element is well done and the investigation that upsets both families as it delves deeper in to the events surrounding the earlier murders pulls out quite a few secrets that you know they’d rather left buried.
I’m very much looking forward to The Stone-Cutter.
Summary
Läckberg is fast becoming another favourite Eurocrime writer. Her sly sense of humour combined with her willingness to let the reader se her characters have lives around the story is making it feel like seeing growing family.
And it will, at least for Erica and Patrik.
In the fishing community of Fjallbacka, life is remote, peaceful — and for some, tragically short. Foul play was always suspected in the disappearance twenty years ago of two young holidaymakers in the area. Now a young boy out playing has confirmed this grim truth. Their remains, discovered with those of a fresh victim, send the town into shock. Local detective Patrik Hedstrom, expecting a baby with his girlfriend Erica, can only imagine what it is like to lose a child. When a second young girl goes missing, Hedstrom’s attention focuses on the Hults, a feuding clan of misfits, religious fanatics and criminals. The suspect list is long but time is short — which of this family’s dark secrets will provide the vital clue?
Comments/Thoughts/Analysis
And dark secrets there are. Who would torture two young girls and then reappear 24 years later to commit the same crimes again. It can’t be a copycat as their bodies weren’t found until now, can it?
Things have moved on from The Ice Princess. And it’s not much of a spoiler to say that Erica and Patrik are expecting a child.
This is quite a neat trick on Läckberg’s part. It means that this book focuses more on Patrick and his more official investigations. Though Erica not only gives vital information but also a grounding and a humour that European crime seems so good at providing.
Läckberg’s again focuses on families but this time it’s two warning brother. One who is found dead after being accused of the murders twenty odd years ago, leaving his sons and wife in a run down farm, and the other who inherited their fathers farm and fortune and doesn’t like this ordered and balanced world disturbed.
But what’s makes Läckberg’s stories interesting is how many heads she shines a light in. She shows us the characters from the inside and out and the reader is left to puzzle out the truth of what they’ve seen and heard.
We also get to see the not only the lives that the investigation touches but also the lives of the police detectives. Some of whom are far from endearing but their characters mean that it’s quite insightful, if frustrating for Patrik and his investigation, to be with them for a while.
There is some great moments of humour especially involving uninvited guests and guests that aren’t what you expected.
We also get to see more of Erica’s sister Anna and her struggles to free herself from the control of her children. It’s upsetting to read as you can see why she does what she does as if she has no choice. I at least wanted to shout and scream to make her see sense but I think more than that she needs a knight to take her away and make her feel safe.
The crime element is well done and the investigation that upsets both families as it delves deeper in to the events surrounding the earlier murders pulls out quite a few secrets that you know they’d rather left buried.
I’m very much looking forward to The Stone-Cutter.
Summary
Läckberg is fast becoming another favourite Eurocrime writer. Her sly sense of humour combined with her willingness to let the reader se her characters have lives around the story is making it feel like seeing growing family.
And it will, at least for Erica and Patrik.
mayarelmahdy's review against another edition
3.0
These books aren't as good as I remember. It makes me so sad.
The translation is still positively British, but I remember the Arabic version being awful and introducing new pronunciations; every time I saw the "J" in Fjällbacka pronounced I died a little. Though my own college professor says Sarajevo with a "J" so maybe it's a common mistake.
Back to the story, It features a violent crime parallel to Erika being pregnant -with no transition to tell when did that happen- and Patrik is leading an investigation. We see the happy couple sort of inviting people to their home and hating every minute of it but being so hospitable. Their hypocrisy is a little annoying but the guests are purely pigs.
Still, the author has such a judgemental voice that makes the book childish.
I still think I'll keep reading this. Hopefully a new-to-me book will make me feel better
The translation is still positively British, but I remember the Arabic version being awful and introducing new pronunciations; every time I saw the "J" in Fjällbacka pronounced I died a little. Though my own college professor says Sarajevo with a "J" so maybe it's a common mistake.
Back to the story, It features a violent crime parallel to Erika being pregnant -with no transition to tell when did that happen- and Patrik is leading an investigation. We see the happy couple sort of inviting people to their home and hating every minute of it but being so hospitable. Their hypocrisy is a little annoying but the guests are purely pigs.
Still, the author has such a judgemental voice that makes the book childish.
I still think I'll keep reading this. Hopefully a new-to-me book will make me feel better
joseog's review against another edition
4.0
The plot was really good and really interesting but why was there so little Erica?!? I mean, come on, she was the main character on the first book and now she is just the pregnant girlfriend (who in my edition is sometimes called “wife” by Patrik, translation mistake??). I don’t know, I wished there had been more to Erica than a simple pregnant woman with unwanted guests and some issues with her sister. I wished she had been involved in the case, the only thing she did was research in the beginning and that was simply not enough.
powder_and_page's review against another edition
4.0
Plain ol’ fiction murder mysteries aren’t all that common on my reading list, but I find that I do enjoy reading them on occasion. Prior to purchasing The Preacher, I had heard some promising remarks regarding Camilla Lackberg’s writing. The compliments from the bookish community were all very positive and I had heard it said that Lackberg was on par with Stieg Larsson. I was really impressed with the quality of the narrative and the characters involved, and would agree that Lackberg has similar talent to Larsson, though this book wasn’t quite on the same level as the Millennium trilogy.
Patrik Hedstrom is the primary character, though there are several perspectives throughout the story. Patrik is an officer at the local station where the bodies of three women were discovered. Two were skeletal remains, but the third was a woman that had recently gone missing. Officer Hedstrom is the lead investigator on the case and he’s definitely got his hands full dealing with the mysteries of the case at work and a very pregnant girlfriend at home. I enjoyed his perspective and he was a genuinely likable, sincere character unlike several of the other police officers who were careless layabouts.
The plot was well done, with numerous possibilities that kept me guessing until the very end. I would pin the blame on one character only to have another revelation make me completely change my mind. In the end, I was not all that surprised by who committed the crimes because there was something suspicious about them. The whole Hult family was pretty messed up and all fingers were pointing at one of them being involved, but there were some surprising reveals throughout the course of the novel. The ending chapters were where the real shockers happened, though the events happened very suddenly. I think the story should have wrapped up more slowly, but that’s just me.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book and I’d like to read some more of Lackberg’s novels in the future, especially The Ice Princess. I’d recommend this for anyone who enjoys murder mysteries or Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy.
Patrik Hedstrom is the primary character, though there are several perspectives throughout the story. Patrik is an officer at the local station where the bodies of three women were discovered. Two were skeletal remains, but the third was a woman that had recently gone missing. Officer Hedstrom is the lead investigator on the case and he’s definitely got his hands full dealing with the mysteries of the case at work and a very pregnant girlfriend at home. I enjoyed his perspective and he was a genuinely likable, sincere character unlike several of the other police officers who were careless layabouts.
The plot was well done, with numerous possibilities that kept me guessing until the very end. I would pin the blame on one character only to have another revelation make me completely change my mind. In the end, I was not all that surprised by who committed the crimes because there was something suspicious about them. The whole Hult family was pretty messed up and all fingers were pointing at one of them being involved, but there were some surprising reveals throughout the course of the novel. The ending chapters were where the real shockers happened, though the events happened very suddenly. I think the story should have wrapped up more slowly, but that’s just me.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book and I’d like to read some more of Lackberg’s novels in the future, especially The Ice Princess. I’d recommend this for anyone who enjoys murder mysteries or Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy.
jaclynday's review against another edition
3.0
I read Lackberg’s first book The Ice Princess back at the beginning of the year and I finally got around to the next book in the series. I have a huge soft spot for Swedish crime novels and really enjoyed my time reading The Preacher, but it is probably not everyone’s cup of tea. There were numerous grammatical problems in the Kindle text I read and the translation was spotty here and there. Additionally, Lackberg’s cast of characters and one huge family in particular had me wracking my brain to try and remember who they were. This is more problematic than it might have been because she has tendency to switch from one character and location to another without much of a discernible break in the text. This might be a Kindle formatting issue. Either way, it was annoying to read one paragraph and move on to the next only to realize that I had been teleported to a different time and place. These issues aside, I liked it. I didn’t fall head over heels and I don’t think she improved on the weaknesses of The Ice Princess, but I’m such a fan of the genre that I’m about to start the third book tonight.
m3l89's review against another edition
2.0
I thought this was quite good, but I did get a little bored towards the end. I found myself having to re-read pages numerous times as it took me a while to work out how all the members of the Hult family were related to one another.
Not as good as The Ice Princess.
Not as good as The Ice Princess.
balazs79's review against another edition
4.0
Tetszett a sorozat harmadik része is, az elsőnél is jobb volt egy kicsivel. Összetett a nyomozás, rengeteg apró informácival, a végéig nem jöttem rá hogy mi is történt pontosan. Szeretem azt is hogy beleláthatunk a szereplők magánéletébe is, nem csak a nyomozásról szól a történet. Ericáéknál megjelenő rokonokat, barátokat úgy kivágtam volna mint a....:) Izgalmas, jó kis skandináv krimi, jöhet a következő rész.
caresays's review against another edition
3.0
Engaging and kept me interested. I have now spent many Metro commutes and after-work runs to the supermercado listening about Swedish murder. I think I may have liked this more than the first one, but idk. I'm just a sucker for these.
kchisholm's review against another edition
3.0
Second book in the Erica Falck and Patrik Hedström series, THE PREACHER continues the personal story of these two characters, whilst taking the reader into another past / present scenario. I think I'm going to have to start a count of this sort of storyline as it seems to be cropping up all over the place. In this case the present connects with the past when the body of a young tourist is located in the place where the bones of two missing tourists, missing for 20 years, are then discovered. A second young female goes missing and the race is on.
Apart from the locations, and the setting for this book there's not a lot unusual in the plot-line here, nor are there any particular stand out elements in the way that the investigation is undertaken. Focus falls on the local misfits, clues keep leading back to them, but which family member and what is the explanation for the 20 year gap.
The personal life aspects of this book do seem to take a lot of the focus. Erica's very advanced pregnancy means that she's unable to contribute to the investigation, instead a series of unwelcome guests in the house cause problems in the extreme heat, simply by refusing to leave.
I must admit the personal aspects, whilst amusing for a while, got pretty predictable quickly, and Erica's inability to show all these annoying people the door vaguely bewildering. As are her sisters actions, in an ongoing storyline from the first book. A lot of this wandering around in the personal didn't really seem to be advancing the story anywhere in particular, and I've no idea why on earth most of it was there.
Buried somewhere under all this personal chitchat, there is a plot lurking which was actually quite interesting. The first book THE ICE PRINCESS interested me slightly more than THE PREACHER, and I'd think that readers would be best off starting with the earlier book, as there's a lot that won't make a lot of sense in THE PREACHER without it. Whilst I was a bit disappointed in this book, this is a series I'm planning on continuing with as long as I can still see glimmers of something interesting.
Apart from the locations, and the setting for this book there's not a lot unusual in the plot-line here, nor are there any particular stand out elements in the way that the investigation is undertaken. Focus falls on the local misfits, clues keep leading back to them, but which family member and what is the explanation for the 20 year gap.
The personal life aspects of this book do seem to take a lot of the focus. Erica's very advanced pregnancy means that she's unable to contribute to the investigation, instead a series of unwelcome guests in the house cause problems in the extreme heat, simply by refusing to leave.
I must admit the personal aspects, whilst amusing for a while, got pretty predictable quickly, and Erica's inability to show all these annoying people the door vaguely bewildering. As are her sisters actions, in an ongoing storyline from the first book. A lot of this wandering around in the personal didn't really seem to be advancing the story anywhere in particular, and I've no idea why on earth most of it was there.
Buried somewhere under all this personal chitchat, there is a plot lurking which was actually quite interesting. The first book THE ICE PRINCESS interested me slightly more than THE PREACHER, and I'd think that readers would be best off starting with the earlier book, as there's a lot that won't make a lot of sense in THE PREACHER without it. Whilst I was a bit disappointed in this book, this is a series I'm planning on continuing with as long as I can still see glimmers of something interesting.