The unsettling, gripping and fast-paced style established in the The Hypnotist and The Nightmare continue in the third book in the Joona Linna series, The Fire Witness.
Detective Inspector Joona Linna, under internal review by the National Police for an alleged infraction, is on leave to solve some troubling personal business when he is called in to "observe" the investigation of a gruesome and strange murder at Birgittagarden, a youth home for wayward teenage girls.
A 'Piece of Passion' from the editor... ‘Two savage murders at a girls’ remand home north of Stockholm, a girl from the home on the run in a stolen car, with a little boy strapped into the back seat and, several hundred miles away, a clairvoyant who claims to know what happened...it is a case only Detective Inspector Joona Linna is able to solve. The Fire Witness is the third outing for Lars Kepler’s taciturn detective, first encountered in The Hypnotist and then in The Nightmare. It is one of the most gripping thrillers I have ever read: well written, intelligently plotted and with a truly heart-stopping climax. I defy anyone not to gasp in surprise when the meaning of the title, The Fire Witness, is revealed. Scandinavian crime at it’s very, very best.’ Patrick Janson-Smith
In addition, some of our Reader Review Panel were also lucky enough to read and review this title.
The No 1 Swedish bestseller by the author of The Hypnotist and The Nightmare Flora has seen it all, but nobody believes her. A young girl is dead, someone killed her. She was only fourteen years old and was found in her room at the institution for young women in distress, north of Stockholm. The walls are splashed with blood, the sheets are soaked. None of the other girls know what happened, but one of them has fled into the night. What Flora does not know is that it is the redoubtable Joona Linna who will be investigating the worst and most puzzling crime of his career. Flora knows only she saw the girl and has seen the crime weapon that nobody can find. She knows what happened, but the police do not believe her. For one simple reason: at the time of the murder, Flora was hundreds of miles away. Yet Flora is certain that she is right. She has seen. Because she is a medium.
'It's like falling down a stream, you get caught up and can hardly breathe' Dagens Nyheter
'It all goes at maximum speed and it's impossible to hit the brakes before reaching the end' Skanska Dagbladet Praise for Lars Kepler:
'Taking Europe by storm' Daily Mail
'Kepler has a direct line to a very dark place in the human soul' Lev Grossman, Time
'Commanding, deeply scarifying stuff' Independent
'More energetic than Mankell, as socially involved as Larsson, Kepler matches Jo Nesbo for gothic excitement' Weekend Australian Praise for The Nightmare:
'One of the most exciting Swedish crime novels of recent years ... It doesn't get better than this' Goteborgsposten
'A high-octane, taut thriller' Marie Claire
'Intricate detective work and heart-ticking suspense' Boston Globe Praise for The Hypnotist:
'One of the best - if not the best - Scandinavian crime thrillers I've read' RED
'A creepy and compulsive crime thriller' Mo Hayder
Author
About Lars Kepler
A No. 1 bestselling international sensation, Lars Kepler has sold in excess of 1.5 million copies of the Joona Linna series in Sweden alone. Their first thriller, The Hypnotist, has just been released as a film, directed by Lasse Hallström. The Fire Witness is the third thriller in the Joona Linna series following on from The Nightmare in 2012. Lars Kepler is the pseudonym for writing duo, Alexander and Alexandra Ahndoril. They live with their family in Sweden.
