Title: The Snow Angel
Author: Anki Edvinsson
Translator: Paul Norlen
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Pages: 330
My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐
Charlotte von Klint, a police officer with the
Major Crimes Unit, has moved to Umea, a small town in Sweden, leaving behind
the capital city of Stockholm and the rising crime rate there. She wants to
keep herself and her daughter, Anna, safe. But now Tony Israelsson, a mafia don
she sent to prison, is being released and he’s headed to Umea.
But Umea isn’t the safe haven Charlotte thought it
would be. Crime, it turns out, is everywhere. Her very first case is that of
the murder of a pharmacist, Unni Olofsson, who lived alone and was found dead
in her bathroom.
Shortly afterwards, Anton, a teenage boy, jumps to
his death off a high bridge. Packets of drugs are found at the place where he
stood just before jumping.
At first there doesn’t seem to be a connection
between these isolated incidents. But soon Charlotte realizes that drugs make
up the common thread here. When a young girl, whose family is part of witness
protection, goes missing, the police are under pressure to find and rescue her
before it is too late.
The story is written in the 3rd person
limited PoV in the past tense. The book raises issues about mental illness, the
fake world of Instagram influencers, drug and opioid addiction, suicides among
young people etc.
The way in which the author blends the weather and
the description of Umea city into the narrative drew me in. The writing in the
first chapter was beautiful. Not so much in subsequent chapters.
Chapters end on cliffhangers, but the thread isn’t
always picked up later when we return to the same PoV. The story line goes all
over the place, causing us to lose interest. Towards the end, the author
resorted to coincidences to explain things.
The title was referenced only once in the story and
it didn’t make much sense. It was the least important element of the plot.
I generally enjoy Scandinavian crime thrillers, but
this one fell short by a mile. The dialogue was stilted and unnatural. I don’t
know if the problem was related to translation.
(I read this book on NetGalley. Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley.)
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