Reviews

This is such a fun and easy to read crime/mystery series! I've been on and off with my ratings with the previous 3 books getting 4, 5 and 4 stars. Maybe I had such high, high expectations that this book fell a bit flat for me, but it was still very enjoyable! I read it pretty fast and I'm very curious about the next book.

Full review can be found at BiteIntoBooks

This book didn't score as high as the other books in this series, mainly because I had multiple cons. I did enjoy the book though, I read it quite fast and I'm still very invested in the main characters. I already put the #5 book on my soon-to-read list and I'm hoping it will be a 4 or 5 again!

veereadstoomuch's review against another edition

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4.0

Third time re-reading this book. This mystery is REALLY interesting. I like the chapters with the diaries. You get the back story about the situation in the 70s. You still have no idea exactly how or why or who though, which is really interesting. I like how the beginning, there is no clue if there has been a crime or just a suicide (not just, but something the cops would not investigate). The storyline with Nora is a little better than previous books. I hate the parts about the divorce, but that's life and things you have to go through. Her life is like drama and Thomas is about the murder(s?).

natashaniezgoda's review against another edition

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2.0

2 ⭐️ No blatant spoilers. Just basic observations.

This was my least favorite book in the series. It’s not that it was poorly written (though, I think some of the translations were awkward this time around), it’s just that it was disjointed and slow.

The intrigue of the murder doesn’t start until you’re 200 pages in, which to me is too long for a build up... especially because the build up was for such a predictable ending (I honestly didn’t need to read the last 50 pages).

This was also the first book in the series to deal with mental illness and I don’t think it was handled all that well. There was so much finger pointing and blaming rather than opening up the psychology behind it, that was was slightly offensive. I mean, there was one chapter that kinda explored the topic but with one word answers. I guess with mental illness becoming more prominently discussed, I think some more research and tact could have been used. Also the topics surrounding mental illness were so heavy that it shouldn’t have been glided over: suicide, mental torture, and post traumatic stress.

When it came to the ending, I was still left with questions. Like who killed Marcus and truly why? Why was he even a pivotal role in this? Why introduce the character in Australia if only to never follow up on him? The detergent part: was that really the reason it was used? Etc...

Eh, I wasn’t too impressed. And I’ve also noticed a theme within the last 3 books of of using a narrative that’s both present and past. It was clever the first time, but now is starting to complicate a simple storyline.

And then unlike the first two cases (books) in this series, Nora had no role in this one. She was like an afterthought. And her storyline was so forced - just to keep her name in the series. It was kinda off putting.

To be honest, I would read the first two books of this series and then stop.

tarana's review against another edition

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5.0

Another excellent crime novel in the Swedish archipelago. This time a student commits suicide and someone has killed a sick, former soldier.

juniperusxx's review against another edition

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4.0

Oikein mukavaa ajanvietettä tämä Sandhamn-sarja. Tässä oli helposti seurattava ja vetävä juoni, ja on mukava seurata Nora Linden ja Thomasin yksityiselämän edesottamuksia. Onneksi sarjan seuraaviakin osia odottamassa lukupinossa.

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