The Killing Forest

November 9, 2015
A missing-persons case gets personal for Det. Insp. Louise Rick in Danish bestseller Blaedel’s engrossing fifth series mystery to be published in the U.S. (after 2015’s Forgotten Girls). Sune Frandsen, a 15-year-old boy, has disappeared in the woods near Hvalsø, on the property of Camilla Lind, Louise’s journalist friend. Louise’s first great love, Klaus, who apparently hanged himself years earlier, belonged to a group of young men, including Sune’s father, who practiced rituals inspired by old Norse religious beliefs. When a dead prostitute is found near the sacred oak where these men still meet, Louise becomes certain that Sune witnessed her murder and is in grave danger himself. She also suspects that Klaus’s death wasn’t a suicide and that the cultists had a hand in that as well. Now she just has to get someone to talk. Blaedel nicely balances the twisted relationships of the cult members with the true friendships of Louise, Camilla, and their circle.

December 1, 2015
The disappearance of a 15-year-old boy leads to uncovering crimes committed by a band of men pledged to Asatro, an old Nordic religion. Detective Louise Rick, head of Denmark's Special Search Agency, is just back from extended leave, after a traumatic incident in which she was nearly raped; she finds the boy, Sune Frandsen, in her hometown of Hvalso, hiding in the forest after witnessing a young woman being gang raped and dying during Sune's initiation ritual into a sect. He is afraid even to go home, where his mother is dying of cancer, because he took the brotherhood's blood oath of secrecy. The case reawakens old memories for Louise, particularly of the apparent suicide of her first love decades earlier, as she finds the opportunity to answer old questions and put long-held guilt to rest. But even after the men involved are apprehended, vengeance escalates and touches Louise personally. Fortunately, Louise's relationship with colleague Eik Nordstrom, who has taken in an injured police dog, provides some light in Blaedel's typically dark crime fiction. Another suspenseful, skillfully wrought entry from Denmark's Queen of Crime.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

February 1, 2016

A case involving a missing 15-year-old boy named Sune lures Det. Louise Rick back to her hometown again despite the shocking events of her last case (The Forgotten Girls), which left her bruised and with even more questions about the devastating death of her boyfriend Klaus many years earlier. Hoping to delve into those lingering questions while in town, Louise begins searching for the boy. The investigation soon hints at more long-hidden secrets about Klaus's childhood friends who are still bonded through the ancient, ritualistic religion of Asatro, based on Norse mythology. Sune and a prostitute disappeared on the night of his initiation, but the Asatro practitioners are circumspect. Meanwhile, journalist Camilla Lind, Louise's longtime friend, thinks she has spotted Sune in the forest behind her backyard, but her efforts to help by leaving food and clothes out for him lead to someone terrorizing her family. As the suspects and their motivations become more personal, Louise must break their silence to uncover some deadly secrets. VERDICT Blaedel excels at portraying the darkest side of Denmark. Readers who enjoyed the previous mystery will especially appreciate this story as it finally provides some closure for Louise. [See Prepub Alert, 8/10/15.]--Melissa DeWild, BookOps, New York P.L.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2015

An internationally best-selling author voted Denmark's most popular novelist for the fourth time in 2014, Blaedel has been getting good attention here for relentlessly bleak and edgy books like The Forgotten Girls. Now, she's back with Det. Louise Rick of the Special Search Agency, who's been tasked with finding a vanished 15-year-old. When she realizes that he's from her hometown, she grabs the opportunity to launch a parallel investigation into her boyfriend's death many years ago. With a 75,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.