“The jogger ran north along the water’s edge, the sand heavy underfoot after the night’s rain. At the promontory he turned and headed back down the beach. In the distance he saw a figure walking towards him. Suddenly the person stumbled and fell, then just lay there not moving. Feeling uneasy, he ran forward.
‘Are you all right?’
The face that turned towards him was expressionless, the eyes cold.
For the jogger, time seemed to stand still. Deep down inside him something came alive, something he had tried to bury for years.
Then he saw the muzzle of the gun. It was pointed straight at him. He sank to his knees; everything in his mind went still.”
The most isolated island in the Baltic Sea, Gotska Sandön, north of Gotland, serves as the setting for Mari Jungstedt’s perfect crime story. Praised for her intelligent plots, fast pace, and excruciating suspense, Jungstedt has in “The Dead of Summer” written one of her strongest novels.
At the starting-point for this spine tingling book, one of ten in the Anders Knutas series, we join assistant commissioner Karin Jacobsson on the case, leading the investigation as Detective Superintendent Anders Knutas is first away on vacation. Reporter Johan Berg keeps pace with the police team, while at the same time doing everything in his power to win back his big love, Emma Winarve.
Are we ever truly alone? Or, is there always someone watching, and waiting?
Considered “one of Scandinavia’s best crime writers” by The Times, Mari Jungstedt is one of Sweden’s most beloved authors, with more than two million copies of her books sold in Sweden alone.
“Jungstedt delivers excellent clammy atmosphere and a constant premonition of weird deaths to come. She’s becoming one of Scandinavia’s best crime writers, no mean compliment in a crowded field.”
The Times
”There is an icy dispassionate grip to Jungstedt’s writing that recalls Henning Mankell.”
Metro
”Mari Jungstedt creates the special atmosphere of Nordic crime – that land of snow and ice that fires our imagination.”
Jane Jakeman, Independent
”Mari Jungstedt has once more written an excellent crime fiction and a book that you will greatly enjoy if you like a good, solid read with a smart, well thought-out plot!”
Peter, Nordic Book Blog
”The side stories and Jungstedt’s excellent characterizations contribute significantly to making the series interesting to follow. The ending is quite surprising and superb.”
Scandinavianbooks.com
”It is very much a timeless mystery novel, however, rather than a book that jumps on any of the current fashionable bandwagons in Scandinavian crime fiction epitomised by Stieg Larsson or Lars Kepler. For my taste, it is none the worse for that!”
Maxine Clark, Eurocrime
Translated by: Tiina Nunnally
ISBN: 978-91-87173-20-2
