A review by myweereads
The Scent of Almonds and Other Stories by Camilla Läckberg

5.0

Ive finished reading The Scent of Almonds & Other Short Stories by Camilla Lackberg. These stories are all set in the Swedish fishing village of Fjällbacka. The first is called The Scent Of Almonds which is about a snowstorm which traps a family in a hotel on a tiny island off Fjällbacka. The family is one of the richest and well known in Sweden. During their stay at the hotel a body is found. One of the guests is a detective meeting his girlfriend’s family for the first time however he is now forced to be on duty to solve the crime. The second story is called An Elegant Death which is about a store owner who is found dead at her shop. The detectives look into family and friends to solve the murder of this poor shop owner. In certain crimes everybody is a suspect. The third story is called Dreaming of Elisabeth which centres around a couple on a boat trip who have been having personal problems and therefore plan a trip on their boat to get away from those problems. The wife begins to suspect her husband as his behaviour to her seems strange where he’s taking calls for long periods of time. Playing on her mind is the death of his previous wife before who was thrown overboard. She begins to dream and sees his wife in her dreams and feels she is trying to tell her something but what exactly is she saying?? Lastly The Widow’s Cafe is the final story. This is about a cafe run by a kind older woman who has a secret but this begins to come to the surface when the police get involved due to a string of deaths that link the cafe to them.

After reading a lot of horror books a picked this up for a wee change and I’m glad i did. I love scandi crime novels and this one although it was a collection of short stories they were all excellent. I have read some books by the author before and they have never disappointed. She has an excellent way of writing dark detective stories. Each story in its own way is dark and engaging. I would absolutely recommend this book for someone that doesn’t read this genre to often as a taste of how good it is.