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Guiltless
(Sandhamn Murders #3)
by
The tiny Swedish island of Sandhamn has always been a haven for lawyer Nora Linde. With trouble brewing in her marriage, she finds its comforts more welcome than ever, even in the depths of winter. That is, until her two young sons trip across a severed arm in the woods.
The boys’ gruesome discovery will once again connect Nora with her childhood friend Thomas Andreasson, n ...more
The boys’ gruesome discovery will once again connect Nora with her childhood friend Thomas Andreasson, n ...more
Kindle Edition, 370 pages
Published
May 23rd 2017
by AmazonCrossing
(first published 2010)
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Start your review of Guiltless (Sandhamn #3)

This is the 3rd book in this crime series set on an archipelago off Stockholm called Sandhamn. A young girl has been missing on Sandhamn for four months and despite a large search nothing has come to light. Fears are that she has fallen into the sea and her body may never be discovered.
As per other books in this series, the lead characters are Nora (a lawyer with a holiday house on Sandhamn) and Thomas (a police officer and close friend of Nora). They are both a a pivotal point in their respecti ...more
As per other books in this series, the lead characters are Nora (a lawyer with a holiday house on Sandhamn) and Thomas (a police officer and close friend of Nora). They are both a a pivotal point in their respecti ...more

Ummm. Not my favorite in the series so far.
The beginning started off with so much promise. I was immediately pulled in by the drama surrounding the main characters. There were high stakes for both Nora and Thomas in each of their personal lives. Love lost and love found. But then the disappearance/murder mixed with the century old family quarrel was a stretch for me.
The main plot didn’t come together. There was so much build up for something as cliche as “favoritism” and “revenge”. And if you’ ...more
The beginning started off with so much promise. I was immediately pulled in by the drama surrounding the main characters. There were high stakes for both Nora and Thomas in each of their personal lives. Love lost and love found. But then the disappearance/murder mixed with the century old family quarrel was a stretch for me.
The main plot didn’t come together. There was so much build up for something as cliche as “favoritism” and “revenge”. And if you’ ...more

A young woman disappeared on Sandhamn. Months later Nora's sons discover a black bag while playing. Thomas and Margit come to the island to investigate. Nora left her husband after discovering his affair with a nurse. She ran to Sandhamn since the boys were on a school break.Thomas' ex-wife returns to Stockholm and visits Thomas. The book also contains a century old story relevant to the current investigation although not immediately apparent. I didn't like the way the story ended, but since the
...more

The focus is less on the mystery and more on the personal lives. Nora's situtation is interesting; Thomas' less so. An good enough reader, lite and easy.
...more

Guiltless is my third trip to Sandhamn, a small island off the Swedish coast with a population of only a couple of hundred people but – seemingly – a lot of murder. I have to say, it sounds beautiful there, but – given the death count – I would think twice before visiting.
This time, the victim is a young girl, missing for months before Nora’s boys find her body. She is an island native (vs. the visitors that flood the island in the summer) and so her death is possibly more shocking than it migh ...more
This time, the victim is a young girl, missing for months before Nora’s boys find her body. She is an island native (vs. the visitors that flood the island in the summer) and so her death is possibly more shocking than it migh ...more

In the summer, the small Swedish island of Sandhamn is known for its "beautiful beaches and delightful regattas", but on a stormy Fall night, a young woman named Lina Rosen has disappeared. Four months later, the case is still unsolved and it's up to D.I. Thomas Andreasson, his partner Margit Grankvist, and his friend Nora Linde to find out the truth about what happened to Lina.
I've read quite a few Scandinavian mysteries and I really like this novel by Viveca Sten. This is third in a series, bu ...more
I've read quite a few Scandinavian mysteries and I really like this novel by Viveca Sten. This is third in a series, bu ...more

I enjoy reading about Sandhamn by Viveca Sten each story is totally different from the others except for the characters. The Island life is very fascinating and interesting and yet you have this weird feeling about whats going to happen. Nora Linde is a fantastic person who has diabetes, a cheating husband, and two small boys that she is fanatical about and a curiosity that happens to be right on the money. Her best friend, Thomas is a policeman who been through a lot of finding fault with blami
...more

Oct 30, 2020
Joann
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
audible,
books-in-a-series,
fiction,
mystery-series,
thriller,
drama,
my-ipad,
mystery,
family-drama,
foreign-transtated
This is the third book in the Sandhamn Scandinavian series. This time the setting is in winter with its early darkening days anda more darker plot. We have one story set in the early 1900 and also the present. The author sure knows this part of Sweden and it shows through in her description of life on these small islands of the archipelago. The victim is a young girl, missing for months before Nora’s boys find her body. She is an island native and so her death is possibly more shocking than it m
...more

May 27, 2017
Linda Branham Greenwell
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
scandinavian-european-mystery,
2017
The story goes back and forth between a current story and one from the early 1900's. - I wondered how the 2 stories connected. The current story is the death of a young girl. She had been missing for several months - when suddenly her arm was discovered by children playing in the snow
The older story is about a family with 2 children - The father is very controlling and abusive.
Since I have read the other two books, I was familiar with the main characters and their past stories - I felt as if I ...more
The older story is about a family with 2 children - The father is very controlling and abusive.
Since I have read the other two books, I was familiar with the main characters and their past stories - I felt as if I ...more

I picked up Guiltless for the Sweden stop on my Around the World in 80 Books challenge. I had not read the first or second novels in the series, but that did not seem to matter at all. I found that it worked very well indeed as a standalone novel. Guiltless takes part on a small island in the Swedish archipelago named Sandhamn, and is engaging from its very first page. Throughout, the novel is really well plotted and structured, and its translation is fluid. The sense of place and characters are
...more

Well! This was certainly a much more disturbing book than the previous two in the series. And the murder mystery proper was nowhere near as predictable as in previous.....but I'm slightly aggravated because our author held out a key relationship fact until way late in the book (that was not a spoiler, I promise). Very thankful to have a bit more open time on the calendar to keep bingeing on this series. Totally sucked in to the main characters' personal lives.
...more

I was enjoying this book until the ending. Whoever came up with the trend of books in a series ending in cliffhangers should be smacked. I don't care that the next book is out and all. It isn't fair to the reader for books not to have a definite ending. Especially when there's danger to a main character involved, plot armor or no plot armor. So infuriating.
...more

I'm sure it was as good in Swedish as it was in the English translation, which isn't listed on Goodreads.
...more

As I read this series I get more invested in the characters, which is not unusual, I guess.
This book had an interesting feature, two story lines, one taking place on Sandhamm in the early twentieth century and the main story taking place in current times. Besides providing an intriguing mystery, these two threads contrasted life on Sandhamm during two different time periods.
I look forward to the learning more about the island as I advance in the series.
This book had an interesting feature, two story lines, one taking place on Sandhamm in the early twentieth century and the main story taking place in current times. Besides providing an intriguing mystery, these two threads contrasted life on Sandhamm during two different time periods.
I look forward to the learning more about the island as I advance in the series.

4 stars
Nora Linde accidentally finds out that her husband has a girlfriend. She demands that he leave the house and goes with her two sons to the vacation home on Sandhamn. Her boys, out playing with their friends in the snow come across a severed arm. It turns out to belong to a young woman named Lina Rosen who disappeared some four months earlier. During the course of the investigation, Nora meets up again with Thomas Andreasson, a police detective and childhood friend of Nora’s.
This book goes ...more
Nora Linde accidentally finds out that her husband has a girlfriend. She demands that he leave the house and goes with her two sons to the vacation home on Sandhamn. Her boys, out playing with their friends in the snow come across a severed arm. It turns out to belong to a young woman named Lina Rosen who disappeared some four months earlier. During the course of the investigation, Nora meets up again with Thomas Andreasson, a police detective and childhood friend of Nora’s.
This book goes ...more

This is book #3 in the Sandhamn series by Viveca Sten. I have read it in a Dutch translation, but it will doubtless also exist in your language.
Viveca Sten is definitely an upcoming talent in Scandinavian crime novels. In her third book, the best so far in the series, she gets even better than in the former two books.
A girl of around 18 years disappears, and later evidence shows that she has been murdered. So far for the plot, because I do not want to introduce spoilers in this review.
Between t ...more
Viveca Sten is definitely an upcoming talent in Scandinavian crime novels. In her third book, the best so far in the series, she gets even better than in the former two books.
A girl of around 18 years disappears, and later evidence shows that she has been murdered. So far for the plot, because I do not want to introduce spoilers in this review.
Between t ...more

Me being me, I never start a series by the first book. It's like a curse, I pick up a book at the store thinking that it sounds fantastic and forget to check if there might be other ones before it. You think I would learn after reading quite a few crime novels. They often come in series, especially nordic crime, but I still can't remember to check. Anyhow, as I was going to purschase the latest Agatha Christie book for my granny, this book was standing next to it and it caught my eye. The more I
...more

I got this book as free on Kindle so even after suffering through number 1 and 2 I gave number 3 a chance. The woman reading this book has no clue how to pronounce Swedish names. Despite that I'm Swedish and lived for almost 20 years in the US, I'm having a hard time understanding the names of the characters in this book. It helps to be able to listen + read the book.
Nora Linde is a lawyer but she doesn't act like one. I almost gave up on this book a few times because of how she was acting. When ...more
Nora Linde is a lawyer but she doesn't act like one. I almost gave up on this book a few times because of how she was acting. When ...more

Prior to this book, I had not heard of this author, let alone read any books. After reading the book, I can say this is an author who writes quite well, knows the setting well and delivers a pretty good picture of life and society on this Swedish island as well as an interesting plot, with several fascinating twists and turns. The setting is well done and is one I had never heard of or even thought about, but now find fascinating. As I said, the author provides a good picture of the tiny Swedish
...more

I don't want anyone to be put off by my review because this isn't a bad book in the slightest, but compared to her best, it's not as enjoyable. It's the usual strong, believable characters and interesting stories between them, and that sells me Viveca Sten books every time. I must be honest though - this is not my favourite of the series.
I'm a bit conflicted about this one. There's a big chunk of the story dedicated to a storyline in the 1920's and though I enjoyed the modern mystery more, I fel ...more
I'm a bit conflicted about this one. There's a big chunk of the story dedicated to a storyline in the 1920's and though I enjoyed the modern mystery more, I fel ...more

And here's a hat-trick of 5* reads from this author !! Very well done. I am loving this series of stories. Poor Nora's having a bit of a time of it right now. Henrik is being a bigger dick than he usually is. This was very different in style to her usual way of writing. It had a dual timeline and I always enjoy those types of books. Some of the characters in the earlier timeline I felt horribly sad for. Their lives were pretty grim most of the time and a lot of bad behaviour was exacerbated by b
...more

This is my third trip to the island of Sandhamn. I enjoyed it (probably 3.5 stars rounded up), but maybe not quite as much as my first two visits. The continuing development of the two primary recurring characters, Nora and Thomas, is a strength of the book, especially as they are both facing new circumstances in their lives. And the mystery upon which Nora (or more precisely, her children) stumbles is a real conundrum.
Sten (with the assistance of her translator) does a wonderful job of describ ...more
Sten (with the assistance of her translator) does a wonderful job of describ ...more

An different and interesting plot.... but that's about it.
I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first two, because yet again it was let down by the overtly Americanised translation, which appeared more prevalent than in the first two books.
Apart from the obvious spelling mistakes ie: leaving the 'u' out of neighbour and harbour, and gray instead of grey etc, there were the strange phrases. I told her a 'bunch' of times. You have a bunch of flowers. Should it not have been I told her 'many' tim ...more
I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first two, because yet again it was let down by the overtly Americanised translation, which appeared more prevalent than in the first two books.
Apart from the obvious spelling mistakes ie: leaving the 'u' out of neighbour and harbour, and gray instead of grey etc, there were the strange phrases. I told her a 'bunch' of times. You have a bunch of flowers. Should it not have been I told her 'many' tim ...more

This series is from Sweden and is published in translation for American readers. Very popular in its native country, there is a Swedish tv seriesas well.
This is the third novel. There are six published in the U.S. and more will be coming. The novels are atmospheric and have a strong sense of place. There are characters who are engaging and readers returning to the series will be interested in what has transpired for them since they were last met.
In Guiltless, a lot is going on although the story ...more
This is the third novel. There are six published in the U.S. and more will be coming. The novels are atmospheric and have a strong sense of place. There are characters who are engaging and readers returning to the series will be interested in what has transpired for them since they were last met.
In Guiltless, a lot is going on although the story ...more

The previous two books have taken place during the summer season when Sandhamn is crowded with tourists and summer people. Guiltless is set during the winter, and the island is largely deserted except for the 120 or so people who live there year round.
Nora Linde has taken her two boys to Sandhamn during their school break. The problems in her marriage that have been building in the earlier books have come to a head, and although Nora has not mentioned anything to her sons, she needs this time a ...more
Nora Linde has taken her two boys to Sandhamn during their school break. The problems in her marriage that have been building in the earlier books have come to a head, and although Nora has not mentioned anything to her sons, she needs this time a ...more

This is the 3rd of the Sandhamn Murder series, written by Swedish author Viveca Sten and set on the Sandhamn Islands off Sweden’s coast.
Nora is taking a break from her marriage woes by spending time at her island home with her two sons. But their peace is shattered when Nora’s two young boys find a severed arm wrapped in plastic in the nearby woods where they are playing. Presumably, it belongs to a high school girl who went missing several months ago. Obviously, it’s murder.
Nora’s friend detect ...more
Nora is taking a break from her marriage woes by spending time at her island home with her two sons. But their peace is shattered when Nora’s two young boys find a severed arm wrapped in plastic in the nearby woods where they are playing. Presumably, it belongs to a high school girl who went missing several months ago. Obviously, it’s murder.
Nora’s friend detect ...more

The Sandhamn Murders series gets better and better!
It is some time since I read 'Closed Circles', the previous volume in Sandhamn Murders and I soon found that I was delighted to be back in the company of the protagonists, Nora and Thomas, in the delightful setting of Sandhamn.
The characters are so well drawn that I feel as if I know them personally and the stories in both timelines so well written that I was sucked into early 19th century life on Sandhamn as well as into present day occurrence ...more
It is some time since I read 'Closed Circles', the previous volume in Sandhamn Murders and I soon found that I was delighted to be back in the company of the protagonists, Nora and Thomas, in the delightful setting of Sandhamn.
The characters are so well drawn that I feel as if I know them personally and the stories in both timelines so well written that I was sucked into early 19th century life on Sandhamn as well as into present day occurrence ...more
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Viveca Sten made her author debut with crime novel Still Waters. It soon became a huge hit with both critics and readers and today the author has sold almost 3 million copies of her books worldwide.
In May 2014, her seventh novel, The Price of Power, was published in Sweden. It was hugely successful and Viveca cemented her place as one of the country’s most popular authors. Her Sandhamn Murder Seri ...more
In May 2014, her seventh novel, The Price of Power, was published in Sweden. It was hugely successful and Viveca cemented her place as one of the country’s most popular authors. Her Sandhamn Murder Seri ...more
Other books in the series
Sandhamn Murders
(10 books)
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