The Ice Princess (Fjällbacka, #1) in Pick-a-Shelf

Sep 07, 2012 Minttu rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2013, my-ebooks, monthly-words-2013, a-z-challenge-covers, 1st-in-series, mystery-murder

Erica Falck, an author of biographies, returns to her childhood home in small town of Fjällbacka on the west coast of Sweden after the sudden death of her parents. She is out walking in her old neighborhood when an elderly man asks her help after finding a young woman dead in a house she had asked him to look after while she was away. The woman is Alex Wijkner, Erica’s childhood friend with whom she since grew apart. She is found in her bathtub, wrists slit, the water frozen solid. Despite looki Erica Falck, an author of biographies, returns to her childhood home in small town of Fjällbacka on the west coast of Sweden after the sudden death of her parents. She is out walking in her old neighborhood when an elderly man asks her help after finding a young woman dead in a house she had asked him to look after while she was away. The woman is Alex Wijkner, Erica’s childhood friend with whom she since grew apart. She is found in her bathtub, wrists slit, the water frozen solid. Despite looking like a suicide, her parents and friends seem adamant that Alex would never have chosen this kind of solution to her problems. They are right. In the autopsy it is discovered that Alex was drugged before she died and her death is indeed a murder.

Through Erica happening to be there when Alex was found and Erica’s old friendship with Alex, she is drawn along into the murder investigation at first reluctantly, but then out of her own growing curiosity and need to find out what happened to this beautiful woman who as a child was once so close to her. Nothing is as it first seems and everyone seems to hold on to secrets from years ago, that should have been long buried but still cast a shadow over their lives. Despite her own grief over her parents, fear of having to sell her hildhood home, differences with her sister and a budding romance complicating her life, Erica decides to find out who is the person most desperate to keep the truths from coming out.

My Thoughts:

The last Swedish author I’ve read is Stieg Larsson, so Camilla Läckberg was going to be pitted against an author whose work I greatly admire. I knew I would draw comparisons even if I tried not to. To be honest, I found the plot structure to be similar to The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo. There was the history, the past secrets coming to play years later. There was a strong female heroine, looking for answers. There was several stories happening, seemingly apart from one another and yet coming together into a cohesive grand finale.

I enjoyed the descriptive style of writing. I could easily see the images in my mind’s eye of each situation. I loved how the ice and coldness played a part throughout the entire book. Everything was set in this mysterious and dangerous winter world where the water in a bathtub inside a house could freeze solid, capturing inside the victim, a princess preserved in ice. I could feel Erica’s grief, wrapping around her heart, carving her hollow from inside. Everything was real and believable and yet somehow part of a dark and twisted fairytale.

As a reader I was taken to so many directions and after so many suspects that I changed my mind about who did it several times. I always enjoy it, when the perpetrator isn’t so obvious that you know who it is from the first chapter onwards. People are hardly ever black and white, simply good or bad and I think this book really focuses on this aspect of being a human. Every character is flawed, some more some less, and yet they all have redeeming qualities, except perhaps the vile husband of Erica’s sister Anna. He is one of the nastiest characters I have come across in literature in a while. Things not being how or what they first seem is a recurring theme. It begins with Alex’s death not being what it seems, as in not being a suicide, and it continues throughout the story until the very end. It makes interesting reading, because after a while you really begin to question if the person you suspect could actually be the killer or does it just seem like it now, until the next surprise.

I enjoyed this book very much. I like reading from multiple points of view and I think this kind of structure works especially well in mysteries.The reason why I eventually ended up giving it four stars instead of five is possibly the comparison factor. The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo was more polished, perhaps more edited and the story had more depth. I like long descriptions and I like to know about the character’s backrounds to truly understand why they do what they do. So I would have liked a little bit more detail on the history, the background part, especially towards the end. The secrets were beautifully woven together, but I would’ve loved to read more on them. This is, I’m sure, entirely up to the personal preference of the reader. Some like more fast paced, action-packed read and some like to spend their time investigating the little details instead of high speed chases. I prefer the details and the backstories and I was left wanting a little bit more, so that is why I decided upon four stars.

I think this is an outstanding debut mystery and I really look forward to reading more books by Camilla Läckberg. The Preacher is waiting on my bookshelf already. I actually think that the books coming after this one will be even better, because she has got past all the hopes and dreams and pressure placed upon the debut novel and she has found her writing groove. I will see soon enough if I am right.

I gladly recommend this book to all fans of Stieg Larsson and Scandinavian mysteries. If you have yet to dip your toe in the ice cold Scandinavian waters, but love a good mystery, then this would be an excellent first choice to try. ...more

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Mar 31, 2024 Kari rated it it was ok

A small town murder, hushed up secrets from the past, and lots of drama - this is not a happy read. I do think there were some things that are lost through the translation/cultural infamiliarity (for example: who knew people in the Baltic states were so convinced sitting on cold things gives you a UTI???? Today I learned...) but overall, the style this book is written in drove me crazy. Echoing the sentiments of other reviewers, the main characters having major revelations that aren't revealed t ...more

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