Nerd Girl Loves Books

This is a pretty good mystery/thriller set in Sweden. It’s book 9 of a series, but can be read as a stand alone. I’m sure I missed some nuances regarding the characters and their interactions, but there was enough information to provide me a good idea of what was what. The story is told in two different time periods. The first part of the story is told in 2006 while the main character, Anita, is a detective in the Criminal Investigation Squad. As one of only two women in the unit, the women are thought of as less capable and are treated unequally, especially by Chief Inspector Erik Moberg. The team is tasked with tackling the aftermath of an armed robbery at a cash handling facility in Malmö. The raid left one security guard dead and there was no sign of the stolen millions. The team eventually thinks they’ve solved the crime, but aren’t able to convict who they believe is the mastermind of the operation.

This is a contemporary mystery/thriller with paranormal aspects. I was creeped out by the paranormal aspects of the book, but I’m a big chicken. I think readers that aren’t a big chicken like me will enjoy it. A great deal of the book is devoted to the private life of the main character and the family dynamics with her uncles and brother, as well as her estranged husband. I felt the family issues were distracting and took me out of the mystery elements of the book. A closer look at the book could tighten this part of the story up and make the transitions less jarring.

This was a fun and twisty mystery/thriller set on the West Coast Trail in Canada. Maise lives an unhappy life in the UK. She plans a trip to hike in Canada, but her friend flakes on her. Maise goes anyway, and while waiting to board the bus to the trail, she meets brother and sister Ric and Sera. They instantly click and decide to hike the trail together. The first couple of days go well with lots of fun antics, but then things go bad. Really bad. Twenty-five years later a woman named Laura is shook when she hears a body was found near the trail and police suspect it’s Sera. Laura is afraid the secret she’s been keeping will come out, and odd things start happening making Laura suspect someone is determined to make her spill her secrets.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

This was a pretty good mystery/thriller that involves two best friends and their summer at a high-end holiday home in a small town in Italy. Emily is a successful author of a cozy mystery series going through a painful and expensive divorce. She has recently recovered from a mysterious illness and is going through a bad case of writer’s block. Her best friend Chess is a successful self-help author and influencer.