Book Review: Until Thy Wrath Be Past by Asa Larsson
Disclaimer: I received this as a prize in a Goodreads giveaway (the first one I ever won; I’m reprinting my old reviews until I can finish a new book), and reviewed it on that basis. Also, this was an advance proof copy, and minor changes may occur between my reading copy and the final product.
A young diver is found under the ice in a river in northern Sweden, but forensic evidence indicates that she drowned elsewhere. Prosecutor Rebecka Martinsson finds herself literally haunted by the case, while police inspector Anna-Maria Mella learns that Sweden’s dark past may have more to do with the murder than was immediately apparent.
Scandinavian mystery/thriller fiction appears to be “hot” right now. This one is from Sweden, and falls more towards the latter than the former. The story is narrated by the ghost of a murder victim, who can sometimes read people’s thoughts. This takes quite a bit of the mystery out of the proceedings. There’s some nice descriptive bits, but the story could quite easily be rewritten to eliminate said ghost and leave certain occurrences vague as to their origin.
A lot of the characters are “broken” one way or another, and two of them bonding about their brokenness is crucial to the climax of the story.
The northern Swedish setting seemed homey to me with its resemblance to the hinterlands of Minnesota, though the place names sometimes threw me.
The fact that it was not a finished product showed in some missing spaces, almost all near proper names. I hope that will be fixed in the published version. Less likely to be altered are some ill-timed transitions between third and first person.
I should also mention a couple horrific scenes of domestic violence, for those who are triggery about that.
Overall, a good read, but I’d go with borrowing it from the library rather than buying.
