'When the film begins she has no idea what she is about to see. Nor does she realise what devastating consequences this film and the decisions she then makes will have on the rest of her life.'
The body of a young woman is found carved up and buried in a forest glade in an innocuous Swedish suburb. Alex Recht and his team in the Stockholm Police soon identify the body as belonging to missing student, Rebecca Trolle, but as his team continues to excavate the site, they soon find that someone has been returning to the same spot to bury their victim's year after year, decade after decade.
Investigative Analyst Fredrika Bergman is assigned the task of delving into Rebecca's private life. But little does she know that her enquiries are about to uncover evidence that will put her actions under scrutiny from Internal Affairs, and will throw her private life into turmoil.
And what does the case have to do with the elderly children's author living in a care home . . . who has never spoken a word to anyone since she arrived years ago?
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[When the film begins she has no idea what she is about to see](Simon & Schuster UK, 1 August 2013 (first published 2011), 578 pages, ebook, bought from Amazon, Popsugar 2018 Reading Challenge, Nordic noir)
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This is my first time reading the author.
The Disappeared is fantastic, the kind of thriller I love: multiple plotlines, numerous suspects, questions that are never answered, misdirection and so many twists and turns it makes you dizzy.
The characters are really well-written and believable. There's nothing worse than characters who remain flat and bland like cardboard cut-outs. Most of the characters live and breathe and take up space. My heart broke for Peder and what happens to him. I shed tears. The characters are human and I loved them a little.
One of the things the book explores is snuff movies. I've never come across this in fiction before. Not that I remember. I've seem movies that use this ( 8MM is one of my favourite films) but never fiction. It was interesting to read something new in thrillers and crime fiction.
I really liked the ending. It didn't come as a surprise. There are enough clues in the last few chapters to imply the possibility of what happens. It was well-written though and a nice touch. The author reminds me of one of my favourite crime writers, Camilla Läckberg.
I would recommend The Disappeared and plan to read more by the author.
