More nasty Baltic hijinks from Swedish mysterian Lckberg (The Ice Princess, 2010, etc.), one of several heirs apparent to Stieg Larsson.If you think that a bicycle trip into the Swedish woods is a pleasant way to take a vacation, you'd certainly almost always be right. It's just that statistical blip that'll get you, and then, like the victims of an unknown killer in the precincts of the hick town of Fjallbacka, you wind up dead. Like Larsson, Lckberg delights in peeling the scrubbed white pine veneer off Swedish society and showing the wormy nastiness that lies beneath it. She acquaints us at the outset with a pair of hillbilly rednecksyes, Sweden has themwho live like fat and happy parasites on vacationers from the big city, the matriarch of the family a former beauty who has now become morbidly obese and sharp-tongued. The two seem an ideal clutch to dig up a few skeletons and drape freshly dead young women atop them for entertainments too foul to tell, but then that wouldn't be much of a story, not when there are fatter fish to fry still, among them members of a weird religious sect and their outwardly respectable leader. Well, any reader of mysteries knows that behind every respectable Bible-thumper lies a psycho, but also that behind every red-letter Bible lies a red herring. Caught up in all the brouhaha is police detective Patrik Hedstrom, who has been looking forward to family-values time with pregnant girlfriend Erica but who is now eaten up, in patented Swedish angst worthy of a Bergman flick, by the thought of a world in which terrible things happen to nice people. But is all that nastiness really enough to make Hedstrom talk like Barney Fife ("The whole Hult family feels like a hornets' nest,"nudge, nudge)? It's enough to make the reader suspect that the translator is hatching plots of his own, though it could be that Patrik really is a stiff among stiffs, if not a sheep among religious crazoids.An adequate thriller, though without Larsson's deft touches; sure to please church-hating readers of the Hitchens-Dawkins set.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Swedish bestseller Lackberg's worthy second thriller set in the coastal town of Fjallbacka (after The Ice Princess) opens with a grim discovery-the naked fresh corpse of Tanja Schmidt, a German tourist, on top of the skeletal remains of two young women, later identified as Mona Thernblad and Siv Lantin. All three were killed in the same way, but as Det. Patrik Hedstrom and his team soon discover, Mona and Siv went missing in 1979, and Johannes Hult, the prime suspect in their disappearances, is long dead. The reason for a sadistic killer's reappearance may be hidden among the many secrets and conflicts of a local clan of religious eccentrics. The troubled Hults, from conniving founder (known as the Preacher) to philandering spouses, show a Ross Macdonaldesque love of twisted family relationships, while Lackberg's colorful, diverse police force, staffed with the competent, the incompetent, and the merely distracted, recalls the humanist touch of Dutch author Janwillem van de Wetering. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

This second mystery featuring detective Patrik Hedstrom (The Ice Princess) is again set in the small Swedish village of Fjallbacka. The story opens with the discovery of the skeletons of two women who disappeared more than 20 years ago, along with a fresh victim killed in a similar manner. In researching the decades-old murders, the police are led to the dysfunctional family of a religious fanatic, Ephraim Hult, who was known as a preacher and healer. Hedstrom must find the key to connect the old crimes with the new. In addition, Patrik's girlfriend, Erica, is about to give birth, and he must come to terms with his feelings about becoming a father. Erica, in turn, is deeply troubled by her sister's increasingly serious marriage problems. Lackberg's many-layered story features plot twists and turns galore. Especially effective are her flashbacks, which connect the stories of the women from 1979 to the current investigation. Patrik and Erica continue to evolve, leading readers to become increasingly involved in their lives. VERDICT Stieg Larsson fans seeking more Nordic crime fiction may want to try Sweden's top-selling crime writer. Lackberg is also highly recommended for readers who like mysteries set in foreign countries.-Jean King, West Hempstead P.L., NY (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Lackberg's second thriller takes place in Fjallbacka, Sweden, the same small coastal town featured in Ice Princess (2010). In the middle of a hot summer and a town full of tourists, a fresh body and two female skeletons are found. So police have to track down a young woman's abuser and murderer before he strikes again, and they must identify the skeletons, which means digging into local history and family secrets. Biographer Erica Falck's boyfriend, local detective Patrik Hedstrom, heads up the investigation while heavily pregnant Erica waits at home, entertaining unwelcome summer visitors and managing to help out by providing background research. While this book mostly stands alone, readers of Ice Princess will remember thieves Stefan and Robert and their belligerent mother, Siv, who, along with their estranged cousins, seem tied to all the murders. Lackberg weaves a solid thriller that will gratify fans of Liza Marklund, Stieg Larsson, and the team of Anders Roslund and Borge Hellstrom. This fast-paced tale ensures Lackberg's place on the A-list of Scandinavian crime writers.--Moyer, Jessic. Copyright 2010 Booklist