In Harm's Way

Oh how I love this series. Even without any mystery to attempt to solve, it would be nice to just pretend I'm on a ferry to a sea island, watching the sun sparkle on the waves as I enjoy a brisk wind, knowing that when I get to my summer home I'll be able to enjoy the richest of dark coffees and some homemade pastries in the coziness of my sunroom. Umm, you wanted to know about the story? Well, Ms Sten gets major points for giving Stieg Larsson a shout-out. Also, she led me down the garden path in a big way when it came to whodunnit; I was seeing totally plausible motive, means and opportunity in a different direction than things went. Nora? Sigh, Nora. Dither dither dither. Wish I could give this 3.5 stars but Goodreads still hasn't given me that option. Also wish the next in the Sandhamn Murders was already available in English!

Without a doubt, I love the ending of this book.<br /><br />The mystery is mainly concerning Thomas. Nora's plot is more to do with her job and her relationship status - she is slightly (oh so slightly) torn between her ex-husband who has realized he was an ass and her new boyfriend. That plot is handled quite well and is simply two people who used to love each other trying to figure things out.<br /><br />The mystery - the killing of a reporter who reminds me of Seierstad - is compelling. There are almost too many people to chose from in terms of her death. What is done well is the relationships in the reporter's family - esp. with her daughter.

And she's done it again !! 6 for 6 all 5* book reviews from me !! That is the BEST record of any author I read. Although I just know that sooner or later I'll happen upon a dud.....there's usually one at least in every series I buy. However, Ms. Sten has yet to let me down at all and neither Ms. Delargy. That's a fantastic record.<br />The series continues to hold my interest and the characters are like happening upon old pals. I really do enjoy the whole package.....AND the presentation once again is second to none. NO mistakes. Each time this leaves me staggered that UK/American authors can't manage this. The Nordics always have the best presentation. Either they pay way more attention because of it being translated each time or they just have much more pride in their work. It's highly impressive, though. I did wonder about Jeanette visiting Iran but then writing about Iraq and wonder if that was right, though ? And a mention of an unborn child baffled me at one point as well.<br />I can't get past the 15 varieties of pickled herring mentioned.....I just couldn't bring myself to try ONE if I'm honest !! We had the usual mention of cinnamon buns, Volvo and ABBA but no IKEA which was a little remiss as they usually get a mention !!<br />It is again the immigration issues brought to the fore in this story, the same problems we have here, such as "expenditure on social benefits reaching astronomical heights due to immigration...." With SO many countries facing the same problems you have to wonder why we're all putting up with it, really. This passage said "If we don't preserve our cultural identity, we'll all end up as Muslims. Sweden must slash immigration" then a further remark from one of the police personnel said "I can't understand why people go along with all that crap" and all I could think was WHY NOT ??? It's certainly highly interesting to hear the same problems abound all across Europe......<br />I am happy to say that books 7 and 8 were recently discounted so I have them ready to read !! I'm looking forward to reading what happens with Nora in both her personal and professional life in upcoming instalments.<br />

I must say that Viveca Sten actually outdid herself writing this book. Nora Linde had Christmas and New Years at her house on Sandhamn Island with her sons Adam and Simon and for Christmas her ex Henrik. While there, a journalist, Jeanette Thiels dies, frozen to death outside her hotel. Detective Inspector Thomas Andreasson was told to investigate this woman's body on Sandhamn. As it unfolds it turns out after the autopsy she had died from a rare poison found in her intestines. We meet her ex husband, Michael Thiels and his daughter Alice, who is really upset hearing of her mother's death. She's so upset she blames her father for her death. We meet others in Thomas's team including Margit Grankvist, Staffan Nilsson (forensic technician), Aram, Karin, Sachsen, and the Old Man, the boss. <br />Mean while, Nora had been given a project that put her under Jukka Heinonen, as a lawyer showing how Finland and Sweden had merged and now they were selling their branches in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Nora didn't like the deal because it involved receiving monies through banks that were legal but questionable. She's set up a meeting with her boss which didn't go right.<br />Aram had another idea that he wanted to bring up and that was that the 'New Sweden' was by far the group that the immigrants hated and were in the way of progress. The people in the administration of it were by far the subjects in Jeanette Thiels papers. <br />These were by far the main focus of the story and were discussed in depth with all the trimmings that Viveca could come up with that made your gray cells ask questions. I won't spoil it for you but what a good read this was, I gave it 4 stars out of 5.

It being December, I've been leaning toward reads with Christmas themes or snow and this checked both those boxes. It's the sixth in a series and while it took a little to get into the ongoing travails of the detectives in the story, I don't think it suffered any with me dropping in now and reading it as a standalone. The descriptions of the setting really drew me in and gave a wonderful sense of place. I also liked the way the story moved along. There are 107 chapters but they're fairly short and I didn't feel bogged down. The characters were well enough done and I was guessing a good deal about who did the murder. I happened to enjoy how so many threads tied up neatly and I thought the murder was cleverly done. <br /><br />I would read another in the series but not at the moment because it's December and I'm still looking for murder under mistletoe and crime secreted under snowdrifts.

Sadly, this book wasn't as great as the others in the series.<br /><br />I felt no tension or anything thrilling for the first 85%. I also felt like there were a lot of unnecessary details and that the book lacked details where I wanted it most.<br /><br />It was an original poison case, that has to be said. And I will never leave Thomas and Nora, so I will definitely read the next book.

I have enjoyed watching this series on MHz and had never read any of the books. [Lied. Just saw that I read the first one back in 2018, another reason I need to track my reading on goodreads!] I was familiar with the marital ins and outs and never happy with any of that, but at least it kept my confusion to a minimum in dipping into the sixth book of the series as my first Sandhamn book to read. It was just one of those suggestions from Amazon that I nodded to and downloaded. Now I will go back to the beginning since I have learned all the books are available through Kindle Unlimited. This author really packs a lot of action and themes in one book. There is no way I could have understood the relationships without having watched the very well acted series.<br />This is a good one for a snowy weekend close to Christmas. The murder victim is a female journalist, mother of one young girl. It starts the book with a cold, harsh bang and you're hooked.<br /><br />Kindle Unlimited

<em>In Harm’s Way,</em> the sixth book in Viveca Sten’s <em>Sandhamn Murders</em> series, is an excellent murder mystery that’s at least as good as the earlier books. I’ve given them all four-star ratings, but this one may be the best so far.<br /><br />The prime focus of the story is on the death of prominent journalist Jeanette Thiels on a Christmas Eve visit to Sandhamn. When Jeanette’s body is found in the snow on the grounds of the Sailors Hotel on the day after Christmas, the hotel staff contacts the police. Detective Inspector Thomas Andreasson, who is spending the holiday with his wife and infant daughter on the nearby island of Harö, is called to investigate. The cause of Jeanette’s death isn’t immediately apparent, but Thomas suspects that she may have been murdered.<br /><br />Jeanette had spent her career reporting on dangerous and controversial subjects, so the police theorize that someone may have killed her in order to prevent the publication of something she was working on. The ultraconservative political group New Sweden especially draws their attention when Thomas and his colleagues discover that Jeanette had maintained numerous files about the group. <br /><br />But they also learn that Jeanette had a very contentious relationship with her ex-husband, Michael. The police profiler’s opinion that the killer most likely knew Jeanette well points to Michael as a prime suspect, since he had both motive and opportunity. But the clues are frustratingly far from clear. <br /><br />As Thomas pursues his investigation with his partner Margit Grankvist and their colleagues, Thomas’s friend Nora Linde has her holiday celebration with her family interrupted by a work dilemma that threatens the happiness and security she was only recently beginning to feel after her divorce.<br /><br />For me, the Nora thread of the book has almost become a distraction. In the first several books, Nora was an integral part of the story, as she was involved for one reason or another with Thomas’s murder investigations. In the more recent books, Nora has become a more peripheral player, and it almost seems as if Sten no longer knows what to do with her. In this book, she plays a very minimal role in the investigation of Jeanette’s murder, and her work dilemma is completely unrelated to it. <br /><br />I assume that Nora is something of a stand-in for the author herself, as someone who spends much of her time living on Sandhamn and knows the place intimately. We do get an insider’s look at Sandhamn through her eyes. And for regular readers of the series, it’s nice to see how Nora’s personal and family life develops as time goes by. But to me, Nora no longer feels like a necessary character.<br /> <br />But my view of Nora’s place in the book aside, <em>In Harm’s Way</em> is a very enjoyable book. The police procedural aspect of the story is very well done, and the resolution of the mystery is exciting and satisfying. If you like a good solid mystery story, you’ll enjoy spending time watching Thomas and Margit and their colleagues at work as they try to identify a killer and get justice for Jeanette Thiels.

meilleur que le polar précédent de Viveca Sten – en effet, je l’avais lu en diagonale tant j’avais trouvé que cela parlait trop de problèmes personnels des enquêteurs, cela prenant le pas sur l’enquête. Et tout y était totalement prévisible.<br /><br />Ici, on a aussi comme sujets secondaires les vies de Nora Linde – toujours compliquée, mais elle doit aussi affronter des problèmes professionnels ; Thomas Andreasson qui mène parallèlement l’enquête et les nuits blanches pour faire dormir son petit bout de fille ; ainsi que celle d’un jeune collègue, nouveau au sein de l’équipe, qui a connu les difficultés de l’intégration après avoir fui l’Iran lorsqu’il était enfant.<br /><br />Le mouvement xénophobe est particulièrement mis en évidence dans ce roman, apparemment la Suède connaît les mêmes difficultés sur l’accueil des migrants que le reste de l’Europe. Ce qui fait le jeun de l’extrême-droite.<br /><br />Heureusement, l’enquête sur la mort de la journaliste est suffisamment intéressante pour atténuer la longueur des problèmes personnels des protagonistes.<br />Cette fois j’ai apprécié l’enquête policière et le bouleversement final.<br />Une lecture de vacances, sans plus

super bra