Heure Trouble (L')

I read The Darkest Room: A Novel by Johan Theorin and it was a remarkable mystery novel - great characterizations, a gripping plot, and seamless storytelling. "Echoes from the Dead" is also engaging, though I have to admit that it is a bit slow to take off in terms of the plot (which wasn't the case with The Darkest Room - that book grabbed me from the first and the suspense never let up). However, "Echoes From the dead" is still a strong effort by Theorin - the story's central focus is the disappearance of a young boy Jens, from the island of Oland (which also features in The Darkest Room) more than two decades ago. His body was never found and so his fate remains a mystery. In the present, his still grieving mother, Julia Davidsson, lives on the Swedish mainland, numbing her pain with alcohol, and living on disability. When she receives a call from her estranged father Gerlof (who is living in a nursing home on Oland) that he has received a package with a child's shoes (believed to be Jens'), Julia reluctantly decides that it is time to go back to Oland and see if she can put the past to rest/unearth the truth. A sinister character named Nils Kant, a man believed to be dead since the second World War is a key suspect, and the story weaves between the past and present, from 1936, through WW II, and all the way back to the present.

Although the plot takes some time to gather momentum, the reader's interest is piqued by the narrative technique - especially the details in the past - which paints of portrait of evil, yet also of love, loss, and grief. The pain experienced by Julia is palpable and very credibly drawn, and Theorin has shown his flair for writing character-driven novels, both in "Echoes from the Dead", and "The Darkest Room". The Scandinavian crime authors have shown true talent for writing engaging, suspense-driven novels, and Theorin is fast becoming one of my personal favorites.