I really like the books about Patrik Hedström, they keep you in anticipation until the very end and they don't always have happy endings either, harsh!

Thoroughly enjoyable, although i had figured out who did it and why fairly early on.

Second book in the Erica Falck and Patrik Hedström series, THE PREACHER continues the personal story of these two characters, whilst taking the reader into another past / present scenario. I think I'm going to have to start a count of this sort of storyline as it seems to be cropping up all over the place. In this case the present connects with the past when the body of a young tourist is located in the place where the bones of two missing tourists, missing for 20 years, are then discovered. A second young female goes missing and the race is on.

Apart from the locations, and the setting for this book there's not a lot unusual in the plot-line here, nor are there any particular stand out elements in the way that the investigation is undertaken. Focus falls on the local misfits, clues keep leading back to them, but which family member and what is the explanation for the 20 year gap.

The personal life aspects of this book do seem to take a lot of the focus. Erica's very advanced pregnancy means that she's unable to contribute to the investigation, instead a series of unwelcome guests in the house cause problems in the extreme heat, simply by refusing to leave.

I must admit the personal aspects, whilst amusing for a while, got pretty predictable quickly, and Erica's inability to show all these annoying people the door vaguely bewildering. As are her sisters actions, in an ongoing storyline from the first book. A lot of this wandering around in the personal didn't really seem to be advancing the story anywhere in particular, and I've no idea why on earth most of it was there.

Buried somewhere under all this personal chitchat, there is a plot lurking which was actually quite interesting. The first book THE ICE PRINCESS interested me slightly more than THE PREACHER, and I'd think that readers would be best off starting with the earlier book, as there's a lot that won't make a lot of sense in THE PREACHER without it. Whilst I was a bit disappointed in this book, this is a series I'm planning on continuing with as long as I can still see glimmers of something interesting.

Glad I'm reading these out of order, or I probably would've given up on the series after this one

So many twists and turns that kept circling back through the same family. Another great mystery, I can't wait to start reading #3 in the series.

"In the fishing community of Fjällbacka, life is remote, peaceful, and for some, tragically short. Foul play was always suspected in the disappearance twenty years ago of two young campers, but their bodies were never found. But now, a young boy out playing has confirmed the grim truth. Their remains are discovered alongside those of a fresh victim, sending the tiny town into shock. Local detective Patrik Hedström, expecting a baby with his girlfriend Erica, can only imagine what it is like to lose a child. When a second young girl goes missing, Hedström's attention focuses on the Hults, a feuding clan of misfits, religious fanatics and criminals. The suspect list is long but time is short—which of this family's dark secrets will provide the vital clue?"

Three and a half stars. The Preacher is better than the three stars I have given it but I can't quite get it to four stars.

I'm becoming a fan of Scandinavian crime fiction. The characters seem to more human and believable. I particularity like how, after receiving a vital piece of information, the main police characters form a plan of action to take after they have sat down and had their lunch. No point rushing out to arrest someone on an empty stomach.

The Preacher is a light, easy read and was perfect for a quick holiday read.

Awful. Maybe because I'm a science nerd and saw the "twist" coming a mile off but seriously Camilla Lackberg there is this thing called "show don't tell" and I don't think she learned that in Swedish crime thriller writer school.