Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Brought together by a brutal murder, a young boy with a fiercely guarded secret and a psychological profiler losing her memory become unlikely partners in this exhilarating thriller from the writer at the "front rank...of Nordic noir" (Kirkus Reviews) Named the Best Swedish Crime Novel of the Year by the Swedish Crime Writers' Academy
In the two years that have passed since psychological profiler Hanne Lagerlind-Schon survived an attempted murder, she and investigator Peter Lindgren have rekindled their love, despite Hanne's rapidly advancing dementia threatening their happiness. When the pair is called back to Sweden to investigate a cold case involving the murder of a young girl whose remains were found in a cairn ten years earlier, Hanne is desperate not to lose her job - or worse, Peter - and begins keeping a diary, meticulously chronicling everything she's worried about forgetting.
As Hanne and Peter get closer to solving the case of the murdered girl, they both suddenly go missing. The local police have no leads. The only witness is a teenage boy who sees a woman get into a strange car in the middle of the night, but is afraid of coming forward. The boy, Jake, discovers the notebook Hanne left behind, and reads her notes, fascinated by the unfolding murder case until he makes a shocking realization: his own father was a key suspect in the investigation. Jake becomes determined to uncover the truth on his own.
Hanne reappears with no memory of where she's been - or who she is. Without her notebook, she is lost and terrified, driven by a single thought: find Peter.
Synopsis
Brought together by a brutal murder, a psychological profiler who's lost her memory and a teenage boy with a fiercely guarded secret become unwitting, unlikely partners in this race to stop a killer--"Nordic noir at its best" (Booklist, starred review).
Named the Best Nordic Crime Novel of the Year by the Crime Writers of Scandinavia Out of the frozen depths of a forest in Ormberg, Sweden, a woman stumbles onto the road. Her arms are covered with scratches, her feet are bare, and she has no memory of who she is. Local police identify her as psychological profiler Hanne Lagerlind-Sch n, who, with her partner, had been helping investigate the cold case of a young woman's murder. Hanne begins to recover but cannot recall anything about where her partner is, or what their investigation had uncovered before her disappearance. Police have only one lead: a young woman in a sequined dress who was spotted nearby the night Hanne was found.
The young woman doesn't come forward because she doesn't exist: Jake Birgersson, a local teenager, had been out walking in his mother's dress and sister's makeup, his secret shame and thrill. Terrified of discovery, Jake hid and watched Hanne get into a car, leaving behind her diary.
Reading Hanne's notebook, Jake realizes that it contains the key to a major breakthrough in the case--but turning it in would mean admitting the truth about who he is. When another murder victim is found in the woods, Jake realizes that Hanne herself is in danger, and his only choice is to find and warn her so that together, they can stop the killer before he strikes again.
Advance praise for After She's Gone
" A] stellar crime novel . . . Grebe delivers an unflinching, heart-wrenching message about the plight of refugees in this scorching thriller."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)