| Title | : | Midvinterblod |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | - |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 2007 |
The snow covered all the tracks, as the killer knew it would. But it couldn't hide the victim, the man who now hung naked from a lonely tree on a frozen plain.
Malin Fors is first on the scene. A thirty-one-year-old single mother, Malin is the most talented and ambitious detective on the Linkoping police force, but also the most unpredictable. She must lead the investigation while keeping her fractured life on the rails.
No one knows the identity of the dead man. Or perhaps no one ever wanted to know. When all the voices of the investigation have fallen silent, Malin can rely only on herself and her own instincts. And as she follows in the frigid wake of the killer, Malin begins to discover just how far the people in this small town are willing to go to keep their secrets buried.
Midvinterblod Reviews
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Probably actually a 3.5 star book for me. It’s getting much harder to fool me, now that I’ve read a fair number of Nordic mysteries and I really treasure the books that do manage to pull the wool over my eyes. Midwinter Sacrifice managed to keep me guessing until the last chapters, when it just kind of stuttered to the end.
I liked Malin Fors, the female detective main character. I could appreciate her ambition and determination to solve a case. There was a little too much emphasis on her “feminine intuition” for me, since I think both men & women use their intuition and that police officers especially rely on it, no matter which gender they are.
I also like Malin’s daughter, Tove. Unlike so many detectives in mystery fiction, Malin lives with her daughter and tries to be a decent mother. Malin’s struggles to decide what is reasonable as a parent makes her very real to me.
Although I probably won’t hurry on to the next book, I can certainly imagine that I will get to it eventually to see what the Swedish detective investigates next. -
A solid 3.5 opener of a mystery series.
If you'd like a longer review, click on
through; otherwise, here's a brief look.
While some of the plot was easy to figure out, the writing, the characters, and the exploration of small-town life and its secrets that permeates this solid police procedural drew me in and kept me there. Above all, though, Kallentoft is very good at creating atmosphere and maintaining it through the end -- a quality that I greatly admire in an author.
Detective Malin Fors lives in the Swedish city of Linköping with her young, 13-year-old daughter Tove. On a freezing cold morning, temperature minus 30, Malin and her partner arrive at the scene of a most brutal crime: a man hangs from a tree, noose around his neck, savagely beaten and finished off with a knife. He hadn't hanged himself; it was obvious that whoever murdered him had left him there. He is identified as Bengt Andersson, a loner unable to work due to mental health issues. He's one of those eccentric guys that everyone makes fun of; or who some see as a target for harrassment; a man who loved waiting outside the fence at the local soccer field so he could retrieve balls that came his way. Once he is identified, the investigation begins in earnest. There are different theories of the crime, but the first clue the detectives uncover is a rumor that as a boy, Andersson had put an axe into his father's head. Just who was Bengt Andersson, and what kind of person was he that someone would unleash so much violence against him?
Overall, Midwinter Sacrifice is a fine series opener, a good police procedural with characters that need a bit more fleshing out but which are pretty well drawn for a first series installment. My concerns are very minor compared with the entire day I spent being transfixed with this book (and I did spend all of today reading it without doing a blasted thing otherwise), and they're largely issues that appear in many first series novels. The translation flowed -- there were no awkward moments here whatsoever to cause any sort of pause. If you're cool with dead men thinking out loud, then the only other thing that might give readers pause is the ending, which I will not go into -- suffice it to say it may leave some readers scratching their heads. I'll recommend it to readers of Scandinavian crime fiction, but don't expect a gimmicky serial killer with lots of thrill ride attached if that's what you're into. -
La marginea unui orasel din Suedia, in timpul unei ierni foarte geroase, are loc o crima infioratoare.Intr-un copac este gasit spanzurat un barbat dezbracat, cu rani multiple pe corp.
In descoperirea criminalului sunt angrenati agentii din sectia de politie din Linköping, in prim plan fiind politista Malin Fors si colegul ei de echipa Zeke.
In cursul investigatiei se ajunge la familia Mariei Murvall, asistenta sociala care s-a ocupat si ingrijit de barbatul gasit spanzurat, pe nume Bengt.Asistenta se afla in ospiciu de mai multi ani, dupa ce fusese gasita ratacind pe un camp, ranita si violata.
In cazul lui Bengt ,,Balonul” sunt suspectati cei trei frati ai ei , cunoscuti in tinut pentru activitatile lor ilegale.
In colimatorul politiei intra si doi adolescenti rebeli si un cuplu cel putin ciudat, preocupat de ritualurile vikinge, Valkyria si Rickard.
Politista Fors, incearca sa isi imparta timpul intre fiica sa adolescenta si descifrarea acestei crime ingrozitoare , care o seaca de resurse, recurgand deseori la alcool.
Criminalul se dovedeste a fi el insusi o victima a unor groaznice abuzuri suferite in copilarie.O persoana in aparenta echilibrata, care si-a construit o viata normala, cu o cariera reusita.
Dar aparențele înșală. -
I have to admit I slogged my way through three quarters of this book and considered abandoning it several times. I didn't for several reasons, one being that this was a Netgalley request, the second because two reviewers I respect gave it a 4 star rating and thirdly because I admired several elements of the novel.
Midwinter Blood is a part crime/part police procedural in the style of what has been labeled 'Scandinavian Crime', not only for the author's origin and the setting but also distinguished by the cold weather, gruesome murder and reserved literary tone(think Stieg Larsson, Camilla Läckberg, Jo Nesbø). It begins in the depths of winter in a small Swedish town where an obese man is found hanging from a tree in the middle of a paddock, badly beaten, cut and half frozen. Inspector Malin Fors and her colleagues of the Violent Crime Squad at Linköping Police Department are tasked with discovering the man's identity, and the identity of the killer. The crime scene suggests that the man could have been a sacrifice in the reenactment of an ancient Viking rite but as the victim's life is unraveled the detectives discover a shocking family secret.
"An investigation consists of a mass of voices, the sort you can hear, and the sort you can’t."
It may be that the translation is partly at fault but it was the abrupt shifting between voices, sometimes within a paragraph, that I found the most distracting. The author uses multiple viewpoints to narrate Midwinter Blood, the dead victim speaks of observing the police clustering at his swinging feet, a third person narrative provides glimpses into the lives of Malin's colleagues but it is primarily Malin's third person voice that tells the story.
Inspector Malin Fors is a single mother of a teenage daughter who has a complicated relationship with her ex-husband, her parents, and a tendency to drink too much. She is a dogged investigator, not afraid to push the boundaries and determined to find the answers she needs to solve the crimes she is assigned. The characters of Midwinter Blood, from Malin to the truly disturbing Murvall family are fascinating and I admired the way in which Kallentoft crafted such complex persona's. Even the victim is well developed, and though I disliked the corpses philosophical musings, I appreciated that the author honoured the man with a depth of characterisation rarely afforded to the victim.
The investigation itself was interesting as the detectives followed up leads, evidence and hunches but he pace of the story was a source of frustration for me. I imagine a real police investigation would have a similar rate of progress but the glacially slow beginning simply made me impatient and it barely improved for me until the last few chapters. How much the fact that Midwinter Blood is written in the present tense had to do with that, I'm not sure.
Judging by other reviews of this title if you have a fondness for Scandinavian crime then my review of Midwinter Blood you should not let my review put you off. However for me, while there were individual elements of Midwinter Blood I admired, the novel failed to coalesce into a satisfying read. -
Inverno na Suécia.
Nas planícies de Ostergotland é encontrado pendurado num carvalho um homem nu e obeso. O cadáver do homem dá mostras de grande violência, mas depressa se verifica que a neve ocultou qualquer eventual pista que pudesse existir do assassino, o que vem dificultar e muito a resolução deste mistério!!!
Um livro com suspense suficiente para nos deixar agarrados até à última página!!
Viciante! :) -
Uma escrita diferente, tocante, quase a raiar o intolerável, mas cuja leitura me aprisionou…
Personagens muito humanas, até para além da morte…
E demónios. O maior de todos!
E agora? Vou para um encontro com os anjos perdidos em terra queimada… -
This book took me a little by surprise. I expected a straight-forward thriller, but instead got a beautifully written, almost literary mystery.
The atmosphere the author creates in this book is fantastic. The cold winter landscape seeps into every page, into every character’s consciousness, making it almost another character itself. Malin Fors, the protagonist, is an interesting one. Thankfully, she is not a walking cliché of dysfunction, as many of the cops or detectives in thrillers tend to be, but she’s also not a completely free of some bad habits. The author manages to create a balance where we feel her vulnerability without feeling she’s completely losing her mind as can happen in some books. This gives us a bit of security in the narrative.
The plot is complex, and though not entirely original, the writing is beautiful enough to make it worth picking up. I do wish the author tied up some loose ends a bit better, especially about the whole midwinter blood ritual. We are left kind of dangling about that.
This is not just any thriller. Although it has been compared to Stieg Larsson’s books, this one is so much better, not as slow paced, or dry. The way the author handles the narrative is impressive and I do recommend this to all of you who like thrillers as well as to you who just love a good story. -
Gostei de algumas partes, de outras nem tanto. O final pareceu-me apressado e não gostei do facto de ter ficado uma pergunta por responder.
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[3.5] If you've decided to call your novel Midvinterblod, it's a little odd to set it in February. (I'd saved this to read last December, then left it when I saw the dates on the chapter headings.) There's a possible reason in the plot for the discrepancy, but it still doesn't work very well.
Only after buying the first two Malin Fors books (the second, Summertime Death is set in July) did I notice reviews of the series; two impressions stuck over the last few months.
1) a review of The Fifth Season saying it was little more than torture porn
2) someone calling another instalment in the series 'Scandinavian crime by numbers'. (Not as unappealing as it sounds, if you read these things when you want a less serious book.)
Earlier in the book, I revelled in the normality of it: the everydayness of a story about people at work in a contemporary setting, and, as with other Scandi thrillers, the strange relief in enjoying something that's very normal and popular... Goodreaders, cast me out of your city walls and give me a bell to ring: I actually read a Richard and Judy bookclub book. In R&J's interview with the author at the end of the book Kallentoft says he created Malin Fors as a female version of the typical hard-drinking grumpy maverick loner detective. An idea that isn't too popular with a sizeable fraction of crime readers on Goodreads, but is exactly what I want from a crime thriller. Malin hasn't got as much personality as Anne Holt's Hanne Wilhelmsen, but I liked the way she also combines these typical-fictional-detective characteristics with being an ordinary working mum.
(Another good female character was Rakel Murvall, matriarch of a criminal family - she was always a vivid presence and I found the portrait of her in her youth particularly convincing, )
I avoid torture porn in films, so quite happily don't know what I'm talking about - but my assumption is that in book form it would involve very long and detailed scenes. There is some grim-and-gritty stuff, but just at the average to high end on the scale of other procedurals I've read over the last year or so, and not prolonged. Enough for the sense of normal work in a tough setting to be replaced by all-over grubby edginess and a wish to get everything sorted out ASAP. (Although I knew from reading blurbs for book 5 that part of a case from Midwinter Sacrifice isn't solved until then, and it involves a character it's very easy to care about ... cunning: I'd like to keep reading just to see justice done there.) Having seen a few reviews saying people are hoping for more crime novels which aren't cosies but also don't involve rape and sexual abuse, even in subplots - unfortunately this isn't what you're looking for, although the first crime, with a male victim, doesn't have any of that.
The pacing of this was about right - I thought it was quite likely to be that suspect, became sure around the same time as the detective but before it was set down in black and white. Whilst there are bits and pieces to nitpick, as seems usual with crime fiction, Kallentoft is a better writer than most of the other Scandi authors I've read so far - almost as as good as Arnaldur Indriðason IMO. Rather than the 'well crafted taut thriller prose' type of decent crime writing, this is more literary (weaving between different characters' thoughts, sometimes a bit impressionistic and mystical). One error I can't ignore - and inadequate research from the translator: Norse pagans and their religion are persistently referred to as "Aesir faith" - but Asatru is the correct term in English as well as in Scandinavian languages.
Nordic thrillers are known for having socio-political comment in their stories, but less of that here as a coherent theme, and what there is in the narrative is relatively conservative compared with others. It's not overt, but I can see a Tory getting on with some aspects of this: recurrent hints about deserving and undeserving poor, a bootstraps attitude to work and benefits that would please current cabinet ministers (one chap even makes sure he's not late for work after discovering the victim of a serious crime). Most, though not 100% of, people ultimately remain affected by their backgrounds; you can almost hear the gossips tutting. It was interesting to see an immigrant character who was very keen on assimilating - they rarely appear as contemporary characters in English language fiction, and if they do, they're usually elderly - although it's an outlook I know IRL from some family and friends. One thing British conservatives wouldn't like, however, was how much freedom the teenage characters get and that hardly anyone minds; many of the adults have a strong sense of their own duty towards community cohesion / communitarianism, but low expectations of teens.
Whilst not the very best Scandi crime I've read ever - and the prose had more personality than some of the characters, particularly some of Malin's police colleagues - this was decent and I'm not sorry to have got the second book before I'd read the first. -
Mons Kallentoft é sueco e a sua escrita “apanhou-me” de surpresa, pela profundidade e genuinidade dos sentimentos dos seus personagens e pela sua escrita elaborada e bem estruturada.
https://momentosdemagia.wordpress.com... -
In the depths of a bitterly cold winter, in a field near the Swedish town of Linköping, the mutilated corpse of a society outcast is found hanging from a tree. For Detective Malin Fors and her colleagues in the Linköping PD it's another murder case to solve . . .
Well, so far, so good: none too original a setup, but originality isn't always what you seek or expect in crime fiction, so long as you're getting a ripsnortingly good tale. Alas, though, I had difficulties with the actual telling of the tale that is Midwinter Blood.
Firstly with the style. Lots of short sentences. Allusive. No verbs, often.
Did I say "sentences"?
Same goes for paragraphs.
Too right.
Definitely.
Like this.
And allusive with it.
The result of the narrative being so staccato was that I found very great difficulty immersing myself in the story -- indeed, I was several times on the verge of putting the book aside. The final quarter of the book more or less made up for the tedium of the first three-quarters, only for the very last stages to fall off dramatically. We're left with an important portion of the mystery unsolved, presumably in hopes of getting us all agog for the sequel. Unfortunately, I dislike that sort of manipulative trick -- when I invest time and money in a novel I expect a complete novel, not something unfinished -- and so I most definitely won't be reading said sequel. There are other forms of cliffhangers that are just fine with me. But failing properly to resolve the plot isn't one of them.
I also had problems with the characterization. In the end I gave up trying to recognize some of the cops as anything but names; same for most of the other characters. (The translator seems to have had similar trouble, or maybe it was even Kallentoft himself: in one place we get "Karin" where "Karim" is meant; in another we get "Markus" where "Jimmy" is meant. There may be further instances.) Malin Fors herself I found pretty irritating; in fact, the only character I really much warmed to was the forensics officer, Karin Johannison . . . but she's rather disliked by our coply heroes, Malin included, so I guess isn't to everyone's taste.
For what such things are worth, this was headed for three stars 'til I got to the incompletely resolved conclusion. Grr. -
This book gets off to a slower start, but it will reward the patient reader. By the last third of the book I simply couldn't put it down!! And the beginning is definitely well-written too, but it feels like the author is finding his footing with the story for the first 150ish pages. Once he does, it's absolutely fantastic. If you're looking for a police procedural with a contemplative angle, and are open to a writing style that is intentionally a bit choppy and unique, you will enjoy this book a whole lot!
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I quite enjoyed this swedish crime novel, but read it in small chunks and think it is the kind of book you should read in a big gulp! My reason for this is because the writing style comes across as a stream of consciousness at times which is unique and enjoyable but requires a bit of concentration.
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Citind cateva critici despre aceasta carte, am observat ca toate sunt pozitive. Am decis ca trebuie sa ii dau o sansa in momentul in care una dintre acestea suna ceva de genul "Mons Kallentoft este autorul care l-a surclasat pe Stieg Larsson".
Si nu mica mi-a fost suprinderea, inca de la inceputul cartii, cand am descoperit ca toata actiunea este narata la timpul prezent. Un detaliu care poate unora li se poate parea nesemnificativ, insa care pentru mine a insemnat o incomoditate pe parcursul citirii romanului.
Intriga in sine este buna - un barbat spanzurat de un copac in mijlocul unui pustiu inghetat, in cea mai apriga iarna pe care Suedia a cunoscut-o vreodata.
Un important plus il reprezinta faptul ca nu este deloc previzibila. Politia urmareste diverse piste si nimeni nu poate spune cu exactitate cine este faptasul nici dupa ce s-a citit mai bine de trei sferturi din carte.
Insa desi eram dispusa sa trec peste povestirea la timpul prezent, nu am putut trece cu vederea faptul ca, in final, un mister ramane nerezolvat. Desi cazul este rezolvat, comisarul Malin si partenerul sau Zeke gasind ucigasul, o intrebare ramane fara raspuns: cine este faptasul unui viol care apare prin alianta cu un suspect mentionat in acest caz?
Romanul se termina astfel cu un comentariu prozaic: "Chiar trebuie sa aiba fiecare intrebare un raspuns?"
Da. In ceea ce ma priveste, mi-ar fi placut ca si acest aspect sa fie lamurit, intrucat am ales sa citesc un roman politist, nu un alt gen de roman in care poate astfel de intrebari retorice ajuta la redarea profunzimii. -
Para quem já conhece o policial nórdico, sabe o que vou dizer e este não decepciona tem crime, malvadez, segredos, intrigas, traumas antigos que dão crimes no presente.
Há uma coisa que nunca deixa de me surpreender estes livros: a quantidade enorme de crimes perpetrados contra crianças e o nivel de negligência a que me parecem votadas. Choca-me sempre.
Esta é a história da Inspectora Malin Fors, que para além do seu trabalho extenuante de policia, tem segredos, traumas que adivinham e uma série de assuntos não resolvidos, que lhe complicam a vida e a lucidez.
Pois ela e o seu parceiro foram chamados a investigar um crime bizarro, num dos invernos mais rigorosos de que há memória.
Há personagens que ficaram como que suspensas, sem uma verdadeira resolução, penso eu para que os seus mistérios sejam resolvidos num outro livro da serie.
Não foi uma leitura prazeirosa até porque me pus algumas questões fundamentais -quanto sofrimento pode alguem aguentar, até quebrar e virar um agressor?
Recomendo a quem goste de um bom policial dark, e que o deixe a pensar por uns dias como eu fiquei. -
3.5 steluțe. Bun, dar sunt alți autori nordici pe care i-am apreciat mai mult.
,,Limbile viperelor și picioarele păianjenilor tot își vor croi drum prin veșmintele tale. Rădăcinile negre ale copacului îți înăbușă țipetele, ești legată pentru vecie de tăcerea pământului. Viermii ți se răsucesc între coapse, pe toată suprafața pielii, în măruntaie. Ceva ciudat și dur arde în tine. Sfâșiind tot ce însemni.''
,,Aveți grijă de cei care sunt mici și slabi. Oferiți-le dragoste. Nu ne naștem răi. Devenim răi. Sunt convinsă că bunătatea omenească există. Însă nu acum, nu aici, nu în pădurea aceasta, din care Binele a plecat de multă vreme. Aici nu mai e vorba decât despre supraviețuire.'' -
Bettie's Books -
Tenho este livro (e os próximos 3) em espera há uns anos e só agora comecei e comecei muito bem. Já tinha ouvido falar nesta série e, sobretudo, que era "esquisita". Realmente, a escrita de Mons Kallentoft é um bocadito "esquisita"; no início custou-me um bocado que, num parágrafo, houvesse frases na terceira pessoa e outras na primeira pessoa, isto porque os pensamentos dos personagens têm a mesma letra, sem o mais usual itálico; ou devaneações dos utentes que juntam pensamentos mais de teor pessoal com pensamentos sobre a investigação que me faziam perder no tempo e no espaço. Pelo menos as cenas narradas pelo homem assassinado, Bengt, tinham uma letra diferente para melhor as identificar, bem como, mais tarde, as cenas narradas pelo assassino. É como se costuma dizer: primeiro estranha-se, depois entranha-se e foi o que acabou por acontecer.
Gostei muito deste livro. Os policiais nórdicos têm sobre mim um estranho fascínio, adoro ler cada pedacinho de informação e descrições sobre esses países. Aqui, Malin e a sua equipa têm de fazer as suas investigações sob um tempo extremamente frio, chegando a ser referido que estão 30 graus negativos; quem consegue imaginar esta temperatura? Eu não! Não cheguei nem perto de adivinhar quem era o assassino; aqui não tive ideia nenhuma mesmo e quando é revelado, só pensei: "claro, é óbvio!". Lol
Gostei de conhecer Malin, a protagonista do livro e da série, uma inspetora da Polícia e mãe divorciada de uma jovem de 13 anos e oh, o que acontece nesta idade. Acho que Malin não está conformada com o divórcio de Janne e até espera voltar para ele (e eu acabo por desejar o mesmo). -
Jako, jako lose napisana knjiga. Koliko god se trudio ne mogu da nadjem nista sto bi izvuklo ovu knjigu. Knjiga je nekako jako dosadna, bukvalno sam jedva cekao da je zavrsim. Imam osjecaj kao da se u toku cijele knjige nista bitno nedesava. Likovi su jako sturo napisani, bez ikakvog karaktera, tako da se je nemoguce povezati sa njima. I sam slucaj je katastrofa, jako je tesko ostvariti neku empatiju prema zrtvi, eto toliko je meni ovo lose izgledalo. A pogotovo sam kraj, bar sam ocekivao da ce biti neko zanimljivo objasnjenje, al bukvalno pisac nije ni odgovorio na glavno pitanje, kao da je i njemu dojadilo vise sve ovo, pa je na kraju sve toliko zbrzao, samo da se rijesi ove knjige.
Al onda vidim da ovaj serijal ima 13 nastavaka, i stvarno mislim da je citanje ovoga gubljenje vremena, pogotovo zato sto ima milion boljih knjiga od ove. -
Absolument génial !! Très bon polar teinté d'une ambiance et des attitudes suédoises quasi polaires... On est très proche de The Killing, version originale (suédoise donc), avec une Sara Lund qui ne lâche rien avant la fin... Sauf que cette fois, l'héroïne s'appelle Malin Fors et que la psychologie du personnage est plus détaillée...mère jeune, enquêtrice ultra compétente, elle a aussi des fêlures, entre ses sentiments pr un ex-mari, et un amant, une tendance assez prononcée pour l'alcool et un chouillat intrépide ... Elle nous fait traverser le rude hiver en nous posant devant l'enquête... Et c'est rudement bien mené... Bref un livre, un polar qui se dévore tout cru, se lit facilement et une enquête qui fascine... A lire, évidemment !
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3.5 This is a very unusual Nordic mystery in that it almost reads like a stream of consciousness novel. Took some getting used to because the prose is anything but direct. Switches from third to first person consistently and the dead body has thoughts of its own. Yet I liked it quite a bit, the detective is an interesting character, her daughter has problems and she is still mourning the loss of her marriage. The storyline is brilliant, actually quite sad and the novel has many twists and turns. This is the first of four in a planned series and I am avidly awaiting the next installment. Unusual and different but very good.
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Adorei! Para além do mistério e do suspense (até à última página), gostei muito das personagens e de toda a dimensão humana e social. Tão interessante como a investigação em si, é a trama familiar da Malin, que penso que vou gostar de ver desenvolver-se nos outros livros.
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Nada rima tão bem com férias como romances policiais.
Gostei bastante deste, mas talvez tenha sido por não ter criado qualquer expectativa em relação ao mesmo.
O final também foi ao mesmo gosto, para apimentar o próximo livro da saga. -
Nuostabus skandinaviškas detektyvas. Įtraukia nuo pirmo iki paskutinio puslapio, spėliojant kas tas, blogis, kuris nužudė vyrą. Kiekvienas veikėjas toks gyvas, jog atrodo, kad pasineri į realų gyvenimą, o ne rašytojo sukurtą pasaulį. Norisi net raginti detektyvus, kad greičiau išsiaiškintų tiesą. Galiu pasakyti trys "Taip" šiai knygai.
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Foi uma leitura bastante agradável
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Cartea asta pur și simplu m-a ținut în priză!!⭐🌟
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Why did I read it? I have been enjoying Scandinavian and Nordic fiction of late; something about it resonates with me, and this came up in recommendations somewhere, and as the reviews weren’t bad I decided to delve in.
What’s it about? A man is found hanging, seemingly sacrificed, in the woods outside Linköping, Sweden, during a bitterly cold, winter’s night. Malin Fors, a police detective and single mother, investigates, trying to find the victim, the perpetrator and her own way in life."An investigation consists of a mass of voices, the sort you can hear, and the sort you can’t. You have to listen to the soundless voices, Malin. That’s where the truth is hidden."
What did I like? The approach to the story is unique as the voice of the victim is heard throughout, following Malin Fors as she attempts to identify him, his killer and the motive. Although Malin is the main character, there are insights into the thoughts and lives of all the characters. It’s a strange experience listening to an audio edition of a book that focusses on the voices in an investigation; if the narrator has been better, this book could really have been something special. Perhaps I ought to have read it, rather than listen to it?
There is also an unresolved element to the book, but, rather than leaving me disappointed, it left me wanting more, so I am glad to learn “
Midvinterblod” is part of a series featuring Malin Fors.
Mons Kallentoft excels in writing descriptions and the tale itself is very intriguing. Not really the usual thing. The way the investigation unfolds is also different from others in this genre I’ve read.
I truly enjoyed “
Midvinterblod” because I was unable to identify the killer as soon as they were introduced, or know the answer to the unresolved mystery. This is highly unusual, as I am very good at discerning who did it very early on in stories, films, etc. I find
Mons Kallentoft an inventive writer.
This audio edition was clear, and there were no errors. I am not sure who supplied the male voice of the victim, but it was pitched perfectly: ethereal, sad and reflective of the spirit of the character. I also liked the sound effects used for telephone calls, it enlivened the tone of the narration (see below).
What didn’t I like? Lisa Coleman as narrator was like a drone. I nearly gave up on this audio edition several times, because I was so tired of hearing Ms Coleman’s monotonous vocal. I shall avoid any future audio offerings involving Lisa Coleman. This book could have been more dramatic had it been voiced correctly. A tale based on voices really needs a good reader to make it special, as a few sound effects and a singular male voice just aren’t enough to lift the listener from the doldrums.
To my mind,
Mons Kallentoft misjudges the internal dialogue of Malin Fors at times. I’m not sure I know of any woman who would think some of the things she does, but this is a minor distraction, which does not necessarily detract from the overall narrative.
Would I recommend it? Yes, but read it. Don’t listen to the audio edition voiced by Lisa Coleman.
I should state that had I read, rather than listened to this book I might have rated it 4½ stars. -
Magnus Utvik[1] is quoted as saying “Don’t Bother with Stig Larsson, Kallentoft is better”. Now while I wince at the promotion of one author at the expense of another Utvik is right about the quality of Kallentoft’s Midwinter Sacrifice.
Kallentoft with help from translator Neil Smith delivers a distinct impression of place, of Swedish culture, along with a chilling tale of murder and the dark underside of family relations.
The Story
A man is found beaten, tortured and hung in a tree. A midwinter sacrifice? Malin Fors, the police investigator begins to unravel the life and death of a man who nobody wanted or cared enough to know. What she uncovers is the depths to which some will plunge to in search of love.
A cold and fractured land
Kallentoft paints a darkly beautiful backdrop of Sweden in midwinter, the ever present cold, the disparate communities of Sweden; the rich in their gated communities, the victims of the welfare state, and the newest arrivals in the darker skinned immigrants.
Character observations of the world around them can often be social comment in disguise. I get none of that sense with Kallentoft, no authorial voice poking through. Malin, our protagonist is a police officer and her reflections or observations on the world and culture around her sit firmly within the bounds of her role as an investigator.
Kallentoft balances Mailn’s detached observations with the voice of the first murder victim, who talks to her, urges her to keep going - though she is not aware of him. Malin is also firmly grounded in her own family and its problems, her own search for love.
A twisted love
Midwinter Sacrifice is compelling, the reader drawn in by the imagery and the mystery. It’s a book that invites you to solve the mystery but plays its cards very close to its chest, not revealing the true state of things until the end.
Even at its conclusion, Kallentoft leaves us with a mystery, allowing perhaps those who don’t want to focus on the dark nature of humanity shudder and let the mystery lie, while the rest of us speculate.
There are books that seem to sit on the border between genre and literature, that appeal equally to those that have pitched their tent in either field. This is one of those books- a ghastly tale of murder and the dark side of love.
This book was provided free of charge by the publisher
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1. Noted Swedish author and critic. -
The opening is striking.
A man’s body, naked and mutilated, was found hanging from a tree on a frozen plane.
It was midwinter and snow had been falling heavily, obliterating evidence.
Malin Fors was first on the scene, and she would lead the investigation. She was a bright and capable detective, but she was struggling with life as the single mother of a teenage daughter. I liked her from the start.
The story moved slowly as the investigation moved forward.
It took time to identify the dead man. He had been a loner, and maybe a troubled soul.
It took more time to unravel his complex family background. And his connection to another terrible crime.
One family, ruled over by a formidable matriarch, came into the fore...
The story was a little slow, but I was drawn in.
An omniscient narrator viewed events, sometimes from a distance and sometime focusing on one individual. I liked the style so much that it was a long time before I noticed that Midwinter Sacrifice was written in the present tense, which I usually dislike.
I liked the evocation of time and place too. And the way the author painted life in a small town, where the country is wonderful but jobs and things to do are scarce, where incomers often have so much more than locals.
There is a wrong note: the passages from the perspective of the dead man, his spirit following the investigation. The first one was striking, but the impact lessened and eventually his interventions faded into the background.
And from time to time things got a little slow, details were introduced that really weren't necessary.
But I did enjoy following Malin and her team. Her colleagues were clearly, but lightly sketched. Malin was the focus, and the details of her life with a bright teenager, her concern about whether she had done the right thing when she parted from her husband, her pondering the possibility of a new partner all rang true and held my interest.
And that made me realise that this is a book for the reader who wants to meet an interesting detective and follow them at work and at home, rather than a reader who wants elaborate mysteries and high drama.
The final denouement was dramatic, but the resolution was unsurprising. What resolution there was - there were loose ends.
But maybe they will be tied up in the next book - this is the first in a series and I liked it more than enough to look out for the next book.
Translated by Neil Smith -
“Midwinter Blood” by Mons Kallentoft, published by Emily Bestler Books.
Category – Mystery/Thriller
This is another mystery/thriller coming out of Sweden. “Midwinter Blood” has been a bestseller and sold over 300,000 copies in Sweden alone.
Malin Fors is a crime investigator and is balancing her career with her home life. She is divorced and has a teenage daughter.
Malin is called out on a cold and wintery morning to the scene of a gruesome crime. A young man, who has been bullied and looked down upon, is found hanging from a tree, naked and beaten. The police have little to go on but with dogged determination the mystery starts to unravel slowly. There are several suspects but the most likely ones are a family that has isolated itself and has been known for a long list of trouble with the law.
Malin finds the going difficult as lately everything that they have done has just been this side of legal. The problem becomes more difficult when the three adult men of the family are controlled by a domineering mother. The closer Malin gets to solving the crime the more complicated it becomes due to new information concerning the family.
A good read especially for those who have enjoyed the mysteries that have come out of Sweden over the past year. These Swedish writers though do little for the tourism business for Sweden as they paint a picture of an extremely cold, snow filled country.
