Scars of Silence

by Johana Gustawsson (T. David Warriner)

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SYNOPSIS

Twenty-three years ago, a young woman was murdered on the Swedish island of Lidingö.

The island has kept its silence.

Until now…

As autumn deepens into darkness in Lidingö, on the Stockholm archipelago, the island is plunged into chaos: in the space of a week, two teenaged boys are murdered. Their bodies are left deep in the forest, dressed in white tunics with crowns of candles on their heads, like offerings to Saint Lucia.

Maïa Rehn has fled Paris for Lidingö after a family tragedy. But when the murders shake the island community, the former police commissioner is drawn into the heart of the investigation, joining Commissioner Aleksander Storm to unravel a mystery as chilling as the Nordic winter.

As they dig deeper, it becomes clear that a wind of vengeance is blowing through the archipelago, unearthing secrets that are as scandalous as they are inhuman.

But what if the victims weren't who they seemed? What if those long silenced have finally found a way to strike back? How far would they go to make their tormentors pay?

And you – how far would you go?

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REVIEW

What an opening chapter - setting the scene, introducing the character a little and then BOOM, you’re suddenly hit with that curveball and that’s what I love about Johana Gustawsson. Her writing is never conventional, there’s always something unexpected, a twist, a revelation, a change of direction that really stops you in your tracks. In the second of her books set on Lidingö (an island on the Stockholm archipelago), we meet two detectives - Maïa Rehn and Commissioner Aleksander Storm - who come from different backgrounds but have been brought together after a young boy is found murdered in the woods near a primary school on the island. The case has links to the murder of a young woman in the same area years earlier which Maïa has been asked to investigate, while Aleksander is leading the present day case. I think everybody knows that I love Nordic Noir, and in particular a police procedural, but actually I began my love of reading with horror books. For me, Johana Gustawsson always gives me the best of both worlds. Her books usually have a police investigation at their heart but there is this folk horror or gothic atmosphere brought into the stories which always bring something new to the table, giving them a fresh voice and some truly iconic scenes. In Scars of Silence this comes from the discovery of the bodies wearing the Saint Lucia outfit and crown of candles. These scenes are so strong visually that I couldn't get them out of my head, and as much as I love the books in this series, it would make an amazing TV show! An easy 5 stars!

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Born in Marseille, France, and with a degree in Political Science, Johana Gustawsson has worked as a journalist for the French and Spanish press and television. Her critically acclaimed Roy & Castells series, including Block 46, Keeper and Blood Song, has won the Plume d’Argent, Balai de la découverte, Balai d’Or and Prix Marseillais du Polar awards, and is now published in nineteen countries. A TV adaptation is currently underway in a French, Swedish and UK co-production. The Bleeding – a number one bestseller in France and the first in a new series – will be published in 2022. Johana lives in London with her Swedish husband and their three sons. Follow Johana on Twitter @JoGustawsson

David Warner translates from French and nurtures a healthy passion for Franco, Nordic and British crime fiction. Growing up in deepest Yorkshire, he developed incurable Francophilia at an early age. Emerging from Oxford with a Modern Languages degree he narrowly escaped the graduate rat race by hopping on a plane to Canada – and never looked back. More than a decade into a high-powered commercial translation career, he listened to his heart and turned his hand to the delicate art of literary translation. David has lived in France and Quebec, and now calls beautiful British Columbia home. Follow David on Twitter @givemeawave and on his website wtranslation.ca

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Thanks to Anne Cater - @RandomTTours, Johana Gustawsson @JoGustawsson and Orenda Books - @OrendaBooks for the opportunity to read and review.

Fiction: Police Procedural / Nordic Noir

Publisher: Orenda Books

ISBN: 978-1916788923

Pages: 300pp