At fifty-nine years old, Valdemar Roos is tired of life. Working a job he hates, with a wife he barely talks to and two step-daughters he doesn't get on with, he doesn't have a lot to look forward to. Then, one day, a winning lottery ticket gives him an opportunity to start afresh.
Without telling a soul, he quits his job and buys a hut in the remote Swedish countryside. Every day he travels down to this man-made oasis, returning each evening to his unsuspecting wife. Life couldn't be better, until a young woman arrives in paradise . . .
Anna Gambowska is a twenty-one-year-old recovering drug addict. On the run from the rehab centre she hated and an abusive relationship she can't go back to, all Anna's prayers are answered when she comes across a seemingly vacant hut in the Swedish woodland. But it's not long before Anna's ex discovers her location, and an incident occurs that will mar the lives of both Anna and Valdemar forever.
Inspector Barbarotti doesn't take much interest when a woman reports her husband as missing. That is, until a dead body is found near the missing man's newly-bought hut, and Mr Roos becomes the number one murder suspect . . .
The Secret Life of Mr Roos is the third novel in Håkan Nesser's Inspector Barbarotti quintet.
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The day before everything changed, Ante Valdemar Roos had a vision. 1
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(@MantleBooks, 15 October 2020, ebook, 402 pages, borrowed from @GlasgowLib via @BorrowBox, # POPSUGARReadingChallenge, a book about a secret)
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This is a new author for me. I chose the book at random as it fit the prompt. I really enjoyed T he Secret Life of Mr Roos. The book takes a good few chapters to develop before it turns into a Barbarotti case. The book seems innocent at first with Roos just looking for his own space and some time away from his family before he finds himself embroiled in something much darker. This is a compelling book.
