The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg.

The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg.

"She got what she deserved. That hussy was going to come to grief sooner or later."

We are presented with a combination of romance and murder, a lighter version of a Scandi thriller. This is the first book in the series involving Erica Falck the writer and Patrik Hedstrom her lover.

It is set in Fjallbacka, an old fishing village, the hometown of Erica and the scene of a cold-blooded murder where she returns after the tragic death of her parents. She had already published four books and was working on the draft of a fifth one on Selma Lagerlof but was behind schedule because of funeral arrangements and cleaning out the family home. Her Stockholm flat had been sub-let as she planned on remaining at her parents' house for the foreseeable future.

Eilert Berg, a resident had been keeping an eye on the house belonging to Alex Wijkner. He was the one who discovered her lifeless body. He stumbled out in the street and found Erica, the first person at hand to inform her of his shocking discovery. She returned with him to witness the "macabre tableau." Alex was lying in an ice cold bath with her wrists slashed. It was initially thought, that she had killed herself but the post-mortem revealed that there was a strong sedative in her blood. She was pregnant and the coroner discovered that Alex had already had a baby.

It seems that Alex had planned a romantic dinner for two but her date didn't show up. Erica had been best friends with Alex when they were children, more than 25 years ago before growing apart. Alex had run an art gallery in Goteborg and lived in a huge house on Saro island with her husband, Henrik. Birgit, Alex's mother was convinced that her daughter didn't kill herself. Erica was then asked if she would write an article about Alex " a commemoration of her life"- her life, her dreams and her death. Investigating allows Erica the opportunity to become an amateur sleuth, in some ways competing with the police force, especially Patrik and their paths cross on numerous occasions and they become lovers.


Anders Nilsson had been friendly with Alex since they were children. He was a talented painter but he was also an alcoholic with a notorious reputation. He had been having an intimate relationship with her and he became the obvious suspect so was arrested and  accused of being a pervert. A second death complicated the case especially where there were obvious links to Alex's death. More complicated details emerged of the disappearance of Nils Lorentz 25 years ago and sexual abuse. Is there a connection? A whodunnit in the traditional style but rather formulaic.

REVIEW it by Carol Naylor.

Publisher: Harper. ISBN: 978-0-00-749377-7 Translated by: Steven T. Murray.

Copyright 2017. Permission must be obtained from the author before any of this article review is reproduced.

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