A startling, clever and intensely dark tale set in a small Swedish town. This is the ninth novel with Detective Patrik Hedstrom and his crime writing wife Erica at the helm. Although you could read this as a standalone, it really is best to start at the beginning of the series with The Ice Princess. In ‘The Ice Child’ a number of girls have gone missing, one suddenly reappears with horrific injuries, Patrik and his team try to piece together the scant information they have. Right from the offset Camilla Lackberg allows insidious whispers and suggestions to creep into your mind, to set you thinking and considering possibilities. The writing is matter of fact, yet feelings and thoughts sit on the surface, to be tasted and explored. This feels like a jigsaw puzzle with the last piece sitting within sight but just out of reach. With cunning writing waiting to trip you up, ‘The Ice Child’ is a dramatic, sinister and enthralling tale.
No. 1 international bestseller and Swedish crime sensation Camilla Lackberg's new psychological thriller featuring Detective Patrik Hedstrom and Erica Falck - irresistible for fans of Stieg Larsson and Jo Nesbo. January, Fjallbacka. A semi-naked girl wanders through the woods in freezing cold weather. When she finally reaches the road, a car comes out of nowhere. It doesn't manage to stop. By the time Detective Patrik Hedstrom receives word of the accident, the girl has already been identified. Four months ago she disappeared on her way home from the local riding school, and no one has seen her since. It quickly becomes clear that she has been subjected to unimaginably brutal treatment. And it's likely she's not the only one. Meanwhile, Patrik's wife, crime writer Erica Falck, is looking into an old case - a family tragedy that led to a man's death. His wife was convicted of murder, but Erica senses that something isn't right. What is the woman hiding? As Erica digs deeper, the past starts to cast a shadow over the present and Patrik is forced to see his investigation in a whole new light.
'Heart-stopping and heart-warming ... a masterclass in Scandinavian crime writing' Val McDermid
'Pacy ... with flashing insight into the dark places of the psyche' Sunday Times
'Lackberg is an expert at mixing scenes of domestic cosiness with blood-curdling horror' Guardian
'Both chilling and thrilling' Sun
Author
About Camilla Lackberg
Born in 1974, Camilla Lackberg graduated from Gothenburg University of Economics, before moving to Stockholm where she worked for a few years as an economist. However, a course in creative crime writing became the trigger to a drastic change of career. Her first six novels all became Swedish No 1 bestsellers. She lives in a suburb of Stockholm with her three children.