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The Ice Princess (Fjällbacka #1)

by Camilla Läckberg, Steven T. Murray (Translator)

3.63 of 5 stars 3.63 · rating details · 10,603 ratings · 1,143 reviews

The American debut of internationally bestselling Swedish writer Camilla Läckberg’s haunting first novel.

Returning to her hometown of Fjällbacka after the funeral of her parents, writer Erica Falck finds a community on the brink of tragedy. The death of her childhood friend, Alex, is just the beginning. Her wrists slashed, her body frozen in an ice-cold bath, it seems that...more

Hardcover, 393 pages

Published June 15th 2010 by Pegasus (first published 2002)

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Mar 07, 2010 Masanobu rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2010

I had heard only good things about this book, but it seems this year I'm not being lucky with my readings.

In no particular order, the things that bugged me the most were:

1. This is a murder mystery novel, so there are clues the protagonists investigate to resolve it. The only problem is Läckberg tells the reader the clues after everything is resolved. Yes, the reader is excluded from the investigation, i.e. the fun of this kind of books.

2. There are blatant timeline mistakes. For example, check...more I had heard only good things about this book, but it seems this year I'm not being lucky with my readings.

In no particular order, the things that bugged me the most were:

1. This is a murder mystery novel, so there are clues the protagonists investigate to resolve it. The only problem is Läckberg tells the reader the clues after everything is resolved. Yes, the reader is excluded from the investigation, i.e. the fun of this kind of books.

2. There are blatant timeline mistakes. For example, check the dates when Patrik Hedstrom interrogates Dagmar Petren (the old lady who made cakes). Suddenly, it's two weeks earlier.

3. I'm convinced this was romance disguised as mystery. I don't really need to know how Erika and Patrik made love for five times because they are on the "bingo phase" of their relationship. Indeed, I would love if I had never read "bingo phase". Half of the book is spent in these silly things I don't want to read about. Else I would have chosen Danielle Steel!

4. Women. I can't believe this was written by a woman! Every woman in the book was completely dependent on men, did everything to please some man in her life and their hardest worry was to have a fine make-up in every occasion. Don't expect to find a strong-willed, intelligent and independent woman in this book. Except maybe the old Dagmar Petren.

5. "What kind of detective is Patrik Hedstrom?" That was the question that came to mind when I read Patrik, after looking for a long time to Erika, always sees her perfect in every detail and finds wonderful she goes out without make-up, unlike her ex-wife. Of course, Erika always has tons of make-up on and half the times they see each other she's just put on the first items of clothing in her closet. You could attribute that to being in love, but it just seemed like Patrik was stupid.

6. Of course, point 5 might just be the result of Läckberg lack of talent for writing. That might sound harsh, but Läckberg's characters were out of her control. She described everyone in a very wordy way which was pointless, since the characters really weren't as she wanted them to be.

7. It took me forever to read! And I had been hoping for a page-turner.(less)

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Jun 14, 2010 Nancy Oakes rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: scandinavian-crime-fiction-and-myst, mystery-series-first-novel, translated-fiction

Really, I've given this book 3.5 stars, but once again, I'm faced with the fact that goodreads lacks the 1/2 star option. Even though I dislike star ratings, I try to be fair and round up when I need to.

Erica Falck, the main character of this story, is a writer of biographies of famous women. However, after her childhood friend Alex Carlgren-Wijkner is found dead, Alex's family asks Erica to write a commemoration of her life for the local newspaper in Fjällbacka, where Alex lived until age 10 an...more Really, I've given this book 3.5 stars, but once again, I'm faced with the fact that goodreads lacks the 1/2 star option. Even though I dislike star ratings, I try to be fair and round up when I need to.

Erica Falck, the main character of this story, is a writer of biographies of famous women. However, after her childhood friend Alex Carlgren-Wijkner is found dead, Alex's family asks Erica to write a commemoration of her life for the local newspaper in Fjällbacka, where Alex lived until age 10 and where she was later found dead in her parents' old home. Erica does the article, but decides that she would like to write more about Alex - maybe a book. While working on her draft, she noticed that

...the material was increasingly taking on the form of a crime novel, a genre to which she'd never felt particularly attracted. It was people -- their relationships and psychological motivations -- that she was interested in; she thought that was something most crime novels had to give up in favour of bloody murders and cold shivers running down the spine. (112)

Lackberg, like her creation Erica Falck, is also interested in the "relationships and psychological motivations" of the people in her novel. Alex Wijkner, the dead woman, is an enigma. She was Erica's best friend until one day Alex and her family moved away without saying goodbye. As Erica set to work interviewing people who knew her, Erica came to realize that everyone loved Alex, but nobody really knew her, because Alex never really got close enough to anyone to reveal herself. But evidently someone wanted Alex out of the way, because now she's dead. But why? What possible motivation could anyone have to want to do away with her, since she was so widely admired? As Erica plunges deeper into Alex's life, she realizes that while the who is important, the why also continues to elude her. For help she turns to an old admirer, Patrik Hedstrom, now a police officer, who can go places Erica cannot, and together they begin to peel back Alex's complicated story, layer by layer. They also come to realize that some people will go to great lengths to prevent this story from coming out so as to protect secrets long hidden and buried away.

The author's unraveling of "psychological motivations" behind Alex's death is very well done, eked out little by little, creating a good deal of suspense until all is finally revealed. To start with such an enigmatic victim is a good move and a great way to ensure reader interest until the end. And setting the novel in the small town of Fjällbacka emphasizes the fact that a) tensions can run high in a small town or community where everyone knows your business or at least wants to, and b) murder can happen anywhere, not just in big cities. There is also a nice sense of place evoked here, while at the same time a familiar lament comes through regarding the beauty of this seaside town being wrecked by tourists, although the money from people on their vacations is badly needed. All of these things combined make The Ice Princess a good read.

But perhaps there is too much emphasis on the "personal relationships" mentioned above. As long as the examination of personal relationships and the character development are pertinent and therefore necessary to the crime, I'm very interested. Human beings and their psyches are, after all, at the root of all crime, and one reason Scandinavian crime fiction authors are among my favorites is because they are very good at creating very human and complicated people, both good guys and bad. But when the characters slip into lengthy romantic interludes or comic diversions that pull me away from the plot, then I'm distracted. I realize this is a personal thing I have with crime fiction & mysteries, and I had to think about my own reading prejudices before trying to set down my thoughts about this book. I happen to be one of those people mentioned by Lackberg via Erica who prefers the "bloody murders and the cold shivers running down the spine," and I like my crime more streamlined, complicated and somewhat creepy. For me, there was a bit too much time turned over to romance in this story, and in that aspect, it reminded me more of some cozy novels I used to read. While Erica and Patrik's growing relationship probably helps to make them more rounded characters, I found myself doing the quick skim through these parts to get back to the crime. The romance scenes tended to break up the suspense of what was going on with Alex's death and I couldn't wait to get back to the revelations at hand. The same was true with the scenes at the police station, with the parts featuring the ineptitude of a few of the local cops. While those scenes provided some comic relief, I didn't think I needed any -- again, I was much more focused on the crime and getting back to the main plotline. But then again, that's just me.

I failed to guess the who and the why, so that's a very good thing, and overall, the main thrust of the story was well written with a good plotline and good mystery at its core. This book has received many excellent reviews, and I would recommend it, despite my nigglings above. And I plan to read the other books in this series as well, so obviously I liked it.(less)

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Jul 09, 2012 Cristina rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

Partamos de la base de que el libro no es gran cosa. Pero que si buscas simplemente algo con lo que entretenerte, cumple de sobra su función.

Tiene algunos fallos que me resultarían intolerables en el caso de que me hubiera tomado esta lectura en serio, pero como no lo ha sido, simplemente me resultan anecdóticos:

En primer lugar, la distribución cronológica de los hechos es confusa. Más que confusa, diría que está incluso equivocada, aunque no pondría la mano en el fuego por esta afirmación. Sól...more

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Mar 19, 2012 Brie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, fiction

The Ice Princess, reading more like what I imagine a crime-novel would read like, is centered on solving the murder of a young woman named Alex, who at first appears to have taken her own life. Erica, Alex’s childhood friend, is a writer and happens to be the second person to see Alex’s dead body. She is quickly invested in trying to solve this mystery, being somewhat driven by now wanting to write a book about Alex’s life and death. The police detective on the case is Patrik Hedstrom, a man tha...more

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Nov 20, 2011 Mary Gilligan-Nolan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Really liked it, this is the first of the Camilla Lackberg crime/mystery series. Set in a small Swedish town, Detective Patrik Hedstrom is leading the investigation of what first appears to the a suicide of a young woman found dead in her bath. Evidence however arises that shows she was actually murdered. Erica Falck, a writer who is back home after her parents death, is taken to the scene of the death, when a neighbour finds the body and Erica is shocked to see her childhood best friend dead. S...more

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Jan 21, 2009 The Writer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

After finishing Stieg Larsson's fabulous trilogy, it is only natural for me to hunt for more Swedish authors writing criminal-genre novels and Camilla Läckberg happened to be the next one on the list - at least in my town library's list.

It is quite funny how Swedish writers tend to write their books in a batch of three - as a trilogy and Isprinsessen - which literally means "The Ice Princess" in English is the first of the three. Another similarity with Larsson's book that strikes me the most is...more After finishing Stieg Larsson's fabulous trilogy, it is only natural for me to hunt for more Swedish authors writing criminal-genre novels and Camilla Läckberg happened to be the next one on the list - at least in my town library's list.

It is quite funny how Swedish writers tend to write their books in a batch of three - as a trilogy and Isprinsessen - which literally means "The Ice Princess" in English is the first of the three. Another similarity with Larsson's book that strikes me the most is that how the writer described the main character's family relations and background so well that these information would / could be related with what's coming or happening in the next book. It's perhaps a way to make the main character to be more personal and more familiar to the readers.

Isprinsessen's heroine is a female writer named Erica Falck, who happened to stumble upon a nasty murder in her sleepy hometown of Fjällbacka, Sweden. The victim is her own childhood friend Alexandra - whom she lost contacted years ago when Alexandra's family moved to Göteborg, a rather large city in Sweden.

Erica, who usually lived her hip life in Stockholm, came to Fjällbacka to take care of her parents' house and properties as they recently deceased in a car accident not awhile ago. Apart from that, she was also trying to seek comfort by immersing herself in her childhood environment while at the same time trying to ward off her nasty and dominating her brother and her poor little sister from selling the historical house.

It was only coincidence that Alexandra was found dead (and frozen) in a bathtub with both wrists cut during Erica's stay in that town. Alexandra's parents - who refused to believe that her own pretty daughter took her life - begged Erica to write a memoir about Alexandra and uninentionally "provoked" her to find more about her death.

What Erica found - among the rubbles of her childhood memories and the town's gossips - was a sheer mystery of the past. It all came down to her on why Alexandra's family moved so sudden to Göteborg, why she broke off the childhood friendship with her and the connection with the missing millionaire's son case back in 1977. She cracked the case with the help of another childhood friend / a small town policeman Patrik Hedström who will appear more in the next two books.

Overall, the book was a good reading. It feeds me all the suspense and thriller dose I need to find in a book - especially after having read Larsson's work - and the fact that she wrote well (again, I emphasized that even though the book was originally written in Swedish - I could claim that the Danish version was close to the original considering the two languages' similarities) added another plus to the book.

However - yes, there is a however - the mystery wasn't that enticing after it was unravelled. I guess Larsson was much better in creating all the complicated situations with big question marks attached to every characters he put in the book rather than Läckberg. But who am I to judge since this is only the first book. As I read on the back jacket of the book, the second book "Prædikanten" won the Sweden's best criminal novel of the year in 2004 so I can say that I'm very looking forward to reading the second book.(less)

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Aug 28, 2012 Lavinia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, fiction

I suppose that a book that kept me in bed reading all day deserves at least 4 stars. Might delve into Scandinavian thrillers more often. Yet still amazed at the quantity of coffee these Swedes drink.

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Jan 21, 2013 Manuela rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: giallo

Ottimo giallo. L'autrice ha sapientemente miscelato la parte gialla, ben costruita e che si snoda in maniera logica, con la parte rosa, sviluppata in modo lineare e senza troppi patemi. Sia Erica, insicura, ma tenace, che Patrik, con la sua goffaggine e il suo decennale amore, sono personaggi facili da amare. Tutti i personaggi, anche quelli secondari, hanno la loro importanza all'interno dell'intreccio e risultano ben caratterizzati. Il giallo, per niente scontato, è preponderante, ma anche la...more

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Apr 12, 2013 Ingrid Verschelling rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010

Na alle lovende recensies heb ik me toch ook maar eens aan een Läckberg gewaagd. IJsprinses is het debuut van de Zweedse Camilla Läckberg. Ze werd in 2005 gekozen tot Zweedse auteur van het jaar.

Het verhaal speelt zich af in Fjällbacka, een klein plaatsje aan de Zweedse kust. Dit is tevens de geboorteplaats van Camilla Läckberg. Ze beschrijft een gesloten samenleving waarin iedereen alles van elkaar weet en waar uiterlijke schijn van groot belang is. En dat kan onder bepaalde omstandigheden fat...more Na alle lovende recensies heb ik me toch ook maar eens aan een Läckberg gewaagd. IJsprinses is het debuut van de Zweedse Camilla Läckberg. Ze werd in 2005 gekozen tot Zweedse auteur van het jaar.

Het verhaal speelt zich af in Fjällbacka, een klein plaatsje aan de Zweedse kust. Dit is tevens de geboorteplaats van Camilla Läckberg. Ze beschrijft een gesloten samenleving waarin iedereen alles van elkaar weet en waar uiterlijke schijn van groot belang is. En dat kan onder bepaalde omstandigheden fataal zijn...

Het verhaal begint als Alexandra Wijkner wordt gevonden in de badkuip van haar zomerhuis door een klusjesman. Het ooit warme water is veranderd in ijs. Haar polsen zijn doorgesneden en het lijkt op zelfmoord. Maar als er sporen van slaapmiddelen in haar bloed worden gevonden gaan Patrik Hedström, rechercheur bij de politie en Erica Falck, een jeugdvriendin, op onderzoek uit.

Erika is een schrijfster die teruggekeerd is naar haar geboorteplaats, nadat haar ouders zijn overleden. Samen met haar zus moet ze het ouderlijk huis ontruimen en het huis verkopen. Erika, die vroeger de beste vriendin van Alexandra was, gaat zich met het onderzoek bemoeien. Dat leidt ook tot terugblikken op haar vriendschap met Alexandra en tot een ontmoeting met Patrik Hedström, rechercheur bij de politie. Erika en Patrik denken toch aan moord. Als later ook een vriend van Alexandra overlijdt, ontdekken zij dat beide sterfgevallen hun oorsprong in het verre verleden hebben.

Het boek heeft een prettige schrijfstijl en leest gemakkelijk weg. Er is sprake van onderhuidse spanning, die pas aan het eind van het boek goed uit de verf komt. In het begin van het boek wordt de romance van Erika en Patrik breed uitgemeten, waardoor de vaart uit het verhaal gaat. De personages Erika en Patrik worden sympathiek neergezet. Camilla Läckberg toont mensen zoals ze zijn, inclusief hun twijfels over hun persoonlijkheid of lichaam. De beschrijving van hun romance wordt op een nogal kinderlijke manier gedaan.

Er worden geen sociaal-maatschappelijke misstanden in het land of de wereld aangekaart. Wel schrijft Camilla Läckberg over problemen in de invloedssfeer en dynamiek van een familie: huiselijk geweld, kindermishandeling, incest.

In een interview vertelt Camilla Läckberg, dat de karakters van Patrik en Erika gebaseerd zijn op die van haarzelf en haar ex- man. Er is veel aandacht voor relaties en gevoelens. Erika en haar zus worden heel mooi als twee uitersten beschreven. Erica heeft verantwoordelijkheidsgevoel en is rechtvaardig. Haar zus is daarentegen onzeker en Erika stelt alles in het werk om tot haar zus door te dringen.

Het decor wordt gevormd door een kil en afgelegen Zweeds stadje. Je proeft de winterse sfeer en maakt zelf deel uit van een kleine gemeenschap. De typische kenmerken van een kleine, besloten gemeenschap worden goed uitgewerkt. Er is voldoende aandacht voor de beschrijving van de personen en de omgeving. Soms zijn de beschrijvingen van mensen nogal stereotype. Op het einde waren er een paar verrassende wendingen in het verhaal. De ontknoping kwam als een redelijke verrassing.

Ook al viel het na alle lovende recensies tegen, toch drie sterren. Het was een debuut en ik hoop, dat Camilla Läckberg zich in haar volgende boek verder ontwikkelt.
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Feb 22, 2013 Mónica Silva rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Opinião no blog http://howtoliveathousandlives.blogsp...

Este é um policial clássico, em que um homicídio abala toda a comunidade local de uma pequena cidade ao desenterrar segredos enterrados no passado. Por conseguinte, o leitor tenta decifrar não apenas o crime inicial, mas também todas as situações terríveis que ocorreram há muitos anos e que muitos preferem esquecer. Camilla Läckberg desenvolve a estória de uma forma inteligente, em que as diversas peças deste puzzle acabam por encaixar e re...more

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Feb 22, 2013 Vera rated it 4 of 5 stars

H Camilla Lackberg is a new promising Swedish author of crime fiction. The "Frosted Princess" manages through its central heroine Erika Falk, a young writer to give us a unique novel full of mystery and suspense without failing to focus on the lifestyle and values of Swedish society. Love, loneliness, domestic violence, alcoholism, pedophilia presented sometimes subtly and sometimes directly around the axis of the murder of Alex, who is found dead in a bathtub by her childhood friend, Eric. Th...more

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Feb 02, 2013 Inga rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: thriller, northern-stars

Die Eisprinzessin schläft ist der erste Krimi der Schwedin Camilla Läckberg um den Kriminalbeamten Patrik und die Autorin Erica. Das Setting ist die Geburtsstadt der Autorin, Fjällbacka, ein 1000 Seelen Dorf im Westen von Schweden nahe der norwegischen Grenze.
Erica schreibt Biografien und räumt gerade das Haus ihrer Eltern nach deren Unfalltod auf. Ihre ehemalige Kinderfreundin wird tot in ihrer Badewanne aufgefunden, es stellt sich aber heraus, dass sie ermordet wurde. Erica soll zunächst nur e...more

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Dec 31, 2012 La Stamberga dei Lettori rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: valetta97

La principessa di ghiaccio è il primo romanzo di Camilla Läckberg, la giallista svedese di maggior successo dopo Stieg Larsson, almeno secondo il sito web della Marsilio che sta pubblicando in Italia i suoi romanzi. Premesso che non ho nulla contro questa casa editrice che molto sta puntando sul nuovo filone del giallo nordico, dopo questa ennesima disastrosa esperienza non posso che augurarmi che gli autori di mistery svedesi raggiungano presto l'estinzione.
Il motivo di tanto furore è presto...more

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Nov 22, 2012 Ste80 rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Da www.sognipensieriparole.com

"La principessa di ghiaccio" è un romanzo appartenente alla collana Farfalle - Giallo Svezia - edito dalla Casa Editrice Marsilio. Questo libro risalente al 2010, è il primo romanzo giallo scritto dalla nota Camilla Läckberg, ambientato nel paesino di Fjällbacka (suo paese natio).

L'autrice è stata definita l'erede di Stieg Larsson. Anche se non mi sento di condividere pienamente questa affermazione, posso però consigliare vivamente la lettura del libro. Io personalm...more

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Nov 16, 2012 Sii_Kei rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: thought-challenging, 2012-reading-challenge

This has to be one of the worst mystery novels I've read so far. In fact, I'm not even sure if it's supposed to be 'mystery'. More like 'character discovers x clue, reader is not told what it actually contains, character suddenly reveals it much later on in a really dramatic, Scooby-Doo fashion'. And this happened throughout all the book.

Then there was the narrative. In the beginning, I thought it was a translation issue. Verbal tenses seemed inconsistent, there was some really awkward phrasing...more

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Oct 18, 2012 Dana07 rated it 3 of 5 stars

Lo encontré en la FIL de Monterrey, nunca había leído nada de esta escritora pero el argumento me llamo la atención:

Tras muchos años de ausencia, la joven escritora Erica vuelve a su pueblo natal, donde ha heredado la casa de sus padres recientemente fallecidos. Erica decide darse un paseo por las calles donde transcurrió los primeros años de su vida, pero tras el aviso de unos vecinos, descubre que su amiga de la infancia, Alex, acaba de suicidarse. Conmocionada, inicia una investigación y des...more

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Sep 17, 2012 Cfg rated it 4 of 5 stars

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Aug 12, 2012 David rated it 4 of 5 stars

A good start to the Patrik Hedstrom series. A body found in a bathtub in ice, a 25 year-old missing person case. These all come together to challenge Patrik, and Erica - who is writing about about Alexandra (the dead woman).

Without giving spoilers the novel is hard going at times. not due to Lackberg's writing but the subjects that are dealt with, it was very hard for me to actually read some of it.

Lackberg writes well for a first-time novelist. The challenges are dealt with well by the charact...more

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Jul 17, 2012 aBeiLLe rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sur la 4e de couverture on dit qu’en Suède les polars de Camilla Läckberg se classent parmi les meilleures ventes de ces dernières années, au coude à coude avec Millenium de Stieg Larsson, ce que j’en dis c’est qu’elle doit bénéficier d’une énorme promotion pour vendre autant de livres, à la différence de Larsson qui doit sa renommée au bouche à oreille. J’ai été plutôt déçu par le roman de Lackberg. J’aime quand un polar me tient en haleine, quand je suis subjuguée par les revirements inattendu...more Sur la 4e de couverture on dit qu’en Suède les polars de Camilla Läckberg se classent parmi les meilleures ventes de ces dernières années, au coude à coude avec Millenium de Stieg Larsson, ce que j’en dis c’est qu’elle doit bénéficier d’une énorme promotion pour vendre autant de livres, à la différence de Larsson qui doit sa renommée au bouche à oreille. J’ai été plutôt déçu par le roman de Lackberg. J’aime quand un polar me tient en haleine, quand je suis subjuguée par les revirements inattendus et les dénouements surprises. Ici rien de surprenant, on voit venir l’histoire à 100 milles à l’heure. Je n’avais pas lu la moitié du roman que j’avais deviné tous les « secrets » de cette petite communauté nordique. Je trouvais vraiment pathétique la réaction des personnages en découvrant les éléments de l’enquête quand j’avais deviné tout ça depuis belle lurette! Je n’ai pas non plus accroché au côté « girly » de l’écriture de l’auteur. Je ne lis jamais les 4e de couverture avant de lire un livre, je la lis après… Si je l’avais fait, ma petite cloche intérieur aurait tinter et m’aurait fait comprendre que cette histoire n’était pas pour moi, la 4e de couverture dit : enquêtrice au foyer façon Desperate Housewives. Uh! Vraiment pas mon genre! J’aime les comédies romantiques, mais quand j’ai envie d’un bon polar, je n’ai pas envie de savoir qu’elle sorte de « bobettes » porte le personnage principal pour ses cabrioles nocturnes… Un autre point négatif, il y a beaucoup trop d’éléments de l’histoire qui sont incomplets et qui ne connaissent aucun dénouement, qu’arrive-t-il finalement avec la vente de la maison familiale? Comment se termine l’histoire avec Anna la sœur d’Erica? Beaucoup trop de questions sur des événements importants de l’histoire restent sans réponses, ce qui est très dérangeant pour le lecteur. Au final, de grandes attentes pour ce roman qui s’avère être un polar plus que moyen.

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May 20, 2012 Doris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is hard to rate, because although in some ways it was extremely well done, there were places where it was annoying, such as when a character picks up a list or a note, and the reader never gets the details of what is in that note. In addition, the female characters for the most part seem to be incomplete without the approval of the males in their lives.

That being said, it was a good read. It had a nice flow, with a deceased who was a bit of an enigma, and a main female character who w...more This book is hard to rate, because although in some ways it was extremely well done, there were places where it was annoying, such as when a character picks up a list or a note, and the reader never gets the details of what is in that note. In addition, the female characters for the most part seem to be incomplete without the approval of the males in their lives.

That being said, it was a good read. It had a nice flow, with a deceased who was a bit of an enigma, and a main female character who was likable.

I found the police a bit too much like they were playing the Keystone Kops instead of a true police force, and although I realized there are many people in police work who don't belong there, I didn't think they would all wind up in the same place. There was only one capable police on the force, and by chance he is assigned to this case. Or rather he is assigned as a punishment for being bold and a possible threat to his commander's desire to return to a big city force.

I also realized fairly early who was the most likely murderer, and the reason, although some of the tangled relationships made it an interesting race to the finish.

I enjoyed the way the author used a series of clues to both build the main title character, who we never meet in life, and to also build the character of the lay detective, overall creating a thrilling suspense with several stories layered around each other.

I disliked the main family plot of Erika, with her sister, and wondered how everyone could be so stupid and blind as not to see the secret Anna tries to hide. I disliked Lucas and the sale of the family home - and I particularly liked that this little detail was not resolved. It just sort of - disappeared - from the story line.

The setting of the novel in a small Scandinavian town allows the reader to see that tensions and stressed relationships are not unique to the big cities, and in some ways can be even worse, as everyone knows your secrets and the details of your lives, or at least digs in uncomfortable ways.

I liked the return of the characters to the scenes from early life, but some of the relationships were just too obvious (Nils and Julie for instance) while others were complicated, but the sex scenes detracted from the story. I don't want the gory details of the murder, and I don't want the steamy details of the sex. Bring the characters together by all means - but don't share the details unless a scene shows a clue to solving the mystery.

I was delighted with the tie in to the old mysteries from 2 decades before, and the way this bit of detective work resolved those also. For those, the who and the why were both obvious (Alex) and a puzzle but a delight to discover (Nils).

Again, I thought the overall who was obvious, but the true why escaped me, so that is a good thing. The story was written to entertain and overall did a good job, with the main character being mostly likable, and the deceased being a puzzle whose layers needed to be pulled back one by one.

I highly recommend it, even with the notes I have posted about the elements I objected to.(less)

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May 18, 2012 Alaina rated it 2 of 5 stars

This was really pretty good for a crime mystery book, but some parts annoyed me. it's a Sweden crime book, so the places and names are a bit foreign, which isn't a problem, and it was similar to those girl who has a tattoo and played with fire, but not as violent and gross, which was a good thing. As far the characters go, they were slightly more developed than other quick crime reads that I've experienced, and that's a good thing, and it was better than average in writing style. It's also a qui...more

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Mar 22, 2012 Phyllis rated it 5 of 5 stars

Erica Flack comes back to the small, Swedish fishing village she grew up in to begin the process of cleaning out her parent's house following their recent demise. While there, she is acidentally drawn in to see the dead body of her childhood friend, Alexandra, frozen in death in an icy bathtub where it appears she may have committed suicide. But Alex's parents refuse to believe the girl could have done so and soon enough the police discover that this is a case of murder.

Uncovering the murderer...more

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Mar 19, 2012 Jody rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime, mystery

I've got a thing for Scandinavian crime novels, obviously. This is the first Lackberg novel I've picked up, though, and I enjoyed it. She has a real talent for characters, giving them strong, distinct personalities whether they're minor or major. Characters tend to be my favorite aspect of any novel, and good characters can make me overlook a multitude of other sins.

There weren't many sins in The Ice Princess, but enough to keep me from giving it four stars. For starters, there are a *lot* of lo...more

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Mar 09, 2012 Ellen Keim rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: scandinavian

The author has been called the Agatha Christie of Sweden which is probably why I didn't take to this book like I have some of the other Scandinavian mysteries I've read. There wasn't as much a sense of place as there is for instance in books by Jo Nesbø or Arnaldur Indriðason. The mystery was fairly good, but I think the author's strong suit is writing about "normal" life: two sisters, one of whom is in a bad marriage; two people falling in love, etc. This book was more about family secrets and...more

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Mar 06, 2012 Doreen added it

This is the first of seven mysteries set in Fjallbacka, Sweden, featuring Erica Falck and Patrik Hedstrom.

Erica is a 35-year-old biographer of female Swedish writers. During a stay at her coastal hometown, Alexandra Wijkner, a childhood friend, apparently commits suicide. Of course, it is soon determined that her death was the result of foul play. The case is investigated by Officer Patrik Hedstrom, another friend of Erica's from her childhood.

This is a mystery, but probably because it's the fir...more

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Feb 19, 2012 Denise rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a enjoyable read. I bought it in the Ottawa airport and read it on my holiday. The story line was good, however there were some things that didn't sit right with me:

1. Clues that were found were not shared with the reader, so the reader was left deliberatelly in the dark as the characters were able to use these clues to solve the mystery.

2. Storylines that were left hanging.... Lucas and Anna's relationship and the future of the homestead. That played a huge role in the beginning of the...more

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Nov 05, 2011 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars

I had a crisis a few weeks ago. I was on an airplane, diverted from my original destination, and I didn’t pack a back-up book. Luckily, we eventually got off the plane in Indianapolis, and I picked up The Ice Princess by Camilla Läckberg in the airport bookstore. (I admit that I picked it up because I liked the cover and I’ve been reading some Scandinavian authors lately, so it fit the bill.) More than entertaining enough to keep me engrossed all the way to Chicago.

The theme of the book seems to...more I had a crisis a few weeks ago. I was on an airplane, diverted from my original destination, and I didn’t pack a back-up book. Luckily, we eventually got off the plane in Indianapolis, and I picked up The Ice Princess by Camilla Läckberg in the airport bookstore. (I admit that I picked it up because I liked the cover and I’ve been reading some Scandinavian authors lately, so it fit the bill.) More than entertaining enough to keep me engrossed all the way to Chicago.

The theme of the book seems to be cold. Even the corpse that starts the story is frozen.

“Mercifully, the corpse’s eyes were shut, but the lips were bright blue. A thin film of ice had formed around the torso, hiding the lower half of the body completely…The knees also stuck up through the frozen surface. Alex’s long blonde hair was spread like a fan over the end of the tub but looked brittle and frozen in the cold.”

Author Erica Falck comes to the aid of the old man who finds the body. Alex is an old friend of hers — once her very best friend, and she has never really known what caused the rift that developed between them. Erica has made a name for herself writing biographies and she has come home to the small town of Fjällbacka after the death of her parents, to deal with their estate.

“Erica stepped carefully through the snow covering the rocks. She had felt a great need to get a little fresh air, and here from Badholmen she had an uninterrupted view of the islands and the seemingly endless white ice.”

This is really a fabulous mystery! There are so many twists and turns and misdirections that it keeps you guessing all the way through. There’s the murder mystery — who killed Alexandra Wijkner? Who is the mystery man she was involved with? There’s the backstory — is this related to whatever made Alex pull away from Erica back in their school days, and made Alex’s parents move away? There are other names cropping up — are they involved? Even Erica’s love life and her complicated family situation play into the story.

“The shocking story had touched him deeply, but at the same time he had felt a deep professional satisfaction when the pieces of the puzzle one by one fell into place. So many questions had been answered this afternoon. Yet now he felt an even greater frustration than before. He had found the explanation for so much, but he was still fumbling in the dark…”

My copy of The Ice Princess came from my personal library, thanks to the Indianapolis International Airport. (less)

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Sep 07, 2011 Jay Connor rated it 4 of 5 stars

Alright I admit it ... I turned to Camilla Lackberg to help me overcome my withdrawal symptoms from completing the Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy in a two month period last summer. I needed a summer Scandinavian mystery fix. I was not disappointed!

Though Lackberg's style is closer to that other great Scandinavian author - Henning Mankel - both in plotting and detective insight/inscrutability (think Kurt Wallender), she captures the intensity of Larsson's characters. The richness and complexi...more

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Aug 07, 2011 R. rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Dans ce polar, celle qui joue le rôle de la détective est Erica Falck, une romancière suédoise. L'intrigue se déroule à un époque contemporaine dans un petit village suédois au nom imprononçable de Fjällbacka. Une jeune femme originaire du village est retrouvée morte dans sa baignoire dans une posture qui évoque le suicide, les poignets entaillés par une lame de rasoir. La porte de la maison est restée ouverte, l'eau a gelé — je vous rappelle que nous sommes en Suède — ce qui nous donne une bell...more Dans ce polar, celle qui joue le rôle de la détective est Erica Falck, une romancière suédoise. L'intrigue se déroule à un époque contemporaine dans un petit village suédois au nom imprononçable de Fjällbacka. Une jeune femme originaire du village est retrouvée morte dans sa baignoire dans une posture qui évoque le suicide, les poignets entaillés par une lame de rasoir. La porte de la maison est restée ouverte, l'eau a gelé — je vous rappelle que nous sommes en Suède — ce qui nous donne une belle référence au titre du livre. Notre détective en herbe — enfin elle a tout de même 35 ans — va se retrouver mêlée à cette histoire car elle était une amie d'enfance de la défunte. Elle va s'impliquer de plus en plus dans cette affaire pour suppléer la bande d'incompétents de la police - enfin tous sauf un — mais aussi et surtout car elle compte bien y trouver de la matière pour un futur livre, son premier roman.
Bon, par quoi commencer. Les personnages tout d'abord. Ils sont stéréotypés: des policiers qui ne verraient pas un éléphant dans un couloir, des riches qui sont méchants, l'héroïne avec ses réflexions à la Bridget Jones et enfin une personne que tout accable mais qui n'est peut-être pas coupable. Continuons par l'intrigue qui est quand même assez classique. Tout se joue entre les habitants de cette petite bourgade où les vieilles histoires que l'on croyait oubliées depuis longtemps refont surface. Enfin, la réalisation est à l'avenant. L'auteur a trop recourt à des artifices lui permettant de maintenir le suspense: l'un des personnages trouve un indice ou s'écrit "j'ai trouvé" mais le lecteur n'est informé de cette révélation que quelques paragraphes plus tard, ce qui est, vous en conviendrez, toujours un peu frustrant. Les méthodes d'enquête sont bien loin de celles des Experts, ici du crayon à papier sur la dernière feuille d'un bloc note permet de révéler le texte qui avait été inscrit sur la page arrachée. Les différents protagoniste, police ou particuliers, peuvent se rendre sur les lieux des crimes et farfouiller à leur guise sans difficulté ni précaution particulière. Pour couronner le tout, nous avons droit à la sempiternelle histoire d'amour et à son lot de bons sentiments dégoulinants ainsi qu'à beaucoup de bavardage inutile.
J'ai été un peu dur en ne soulignant que les points faibles de ce polar qui reste tout de même assez agréable à lire — j'ai passé un bon moment. Le style simple et enjoué associé à une histoire tout de même assez bien ficelée confère un intérêt raisonnable à ce roman. Les habitués du polar y verront du réchauffé mais il reste néanmoins une bonne lecture pour les vacances dans laquelle vous ne risquerez pas de vous perdre suite à une partie de raquette ou à une étalage de crème solaire inopiné. http://www.aubonroman.com/2011/08/la-...(less)

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Jul 18, 2011 James Thane rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime-fiction, suspense

Beginning with her 2002 novel, Isprinsessan, Camilla Lackberg has been a popular crime fiction novelist in Sweden. In an obvious attempt to capitalize on the current wave of interest in Scandanavian crime fiction in the U.S., Lackberg's first novel has now been published here as The Ice Princess.

Erica Falck, a writer, returns to her small hometown of Fjallbacka, a Swedish fishing village, to deal with family matters in the wake of her parents' deaths. No sooner does she arrive, though, when her...more Beginning with her 2002 novel, Isprinsessan, Camilla Lackberg has been a popular crime fiction novelist in Sweden. In an obvious attempt to capitalize on the current wave of interest in Scandanavian crime fiction in the U.S., Lackberg's first novel has now been published here as The Ice Princess.

Erica Falck, a writer, returns to her small hometown of Fjallbacka, a Swedish fishing village, to deal with family matters in the wake of her parents' deaths. No sooner does she arrive, though, when her best childhood friend, Alexandra Wijkner, is found dead, frozen in her bathtub, an apparent suicide. Alex was a beautiful woman, married to a successful, caring husband and appeared to have a wonderful life. The two women lost touch years earlier when Alex and her family mysteriously left town in something of a hurry, but even though they had not been close for years, Erica cannot imagine why her old friend would have taken her own life.

Erica's first instinct is to write a book about Alex's death. Her second is to join forces with another childhood friend, Patrik Hedstrom, in an effort to unravel the mystery. Patrik is the principal detective investigating Alex's death. It soon becomes apparent that the small town of Fjallbacka has a lot of deep, dark secrets, some of them dating back for years, and Erica is determined to root through all of them to uncover the truth about the death of her friend.

Inside this four-hundred-page book is a lean psychological thriller struggling to break free. The basic plot is interesting enough, although a lot of readers will usually be at least one step ahead of our heroine. The problem is that there's an awful lot of navel-gazing that one has to wade through. Every few pages the action screeches to a halt while one or another of the characters examines his or her emotional state, and after a while this gets pretty tedious. The characters are also very uneven. Some of them are very well-drawn, complete and interesting; others not so much. There is one central character in particular who's a totally unbelievable cartoonish caricature unworthy of being included in a serious novel. There's also a totally unnecessary subplot involving Erica's sister that intrudes into the story on a regular basis.

My other main concern with this book is that the police procedure is often laughable. The police miss obvious clues and neglect to take even basic steps in the investigation, leaving Erica to make discoveries that the detectives should have made very early on. Patrik also allows Erica, a civilian, to take a role in the investigation that no real police detective would ever countenance.

Toward the end, the book finally gathers steam and Lackberg produces a fairly interesting and entertaining conclusion. But it does leave one with the distinct impression that this would have been a much better book if the author had gotten to the conclusion a lot earlier.

The cover suggests that fans of Stieg Larsson and Henning Mankell "will devour" this book, but Lackberg is clearly not in their league--at least not yet. Several others of her novels are soon to be available in the U.S. and perhaps they will demonstrate more conclusively that she is moving to fulfill that claim.(less)

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About Camilla Läckberg

Born in 1974, Camilla Läckberg graduated from Gothenburg University of Economics, before moving to Stockholm where she worked for a few years as an economist. However, a course in creative crime writing became the trigger to a drastic change of career. Her first four novels all became Swedish bestsellers. Läckberg's books are always set in or around her birthplace, the small Swedish west coast tow...more

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Quotes from The Ice Princess

“Don’t ever get old. With each year that passes, the old Viking idea of jumping off a cliff to one’s death looks better and better. The only thing to hope for is that you get so senile that you think you’re twenty years old again. That would be fun to relive.” — 26 people liked it

“Su ingenuidad y su bondad parecían convertirlo en un imán irresistible
para mujeres que devoraban hombres para desayunar y después escupían los restos” — 3 people liked it

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