Joakim PalmkvistRezensionen

This story picks up in 2012 when millionaire landowner Goran Lundblad went missing in Sweden. There was absolutely no evidence, not even a body, and the case went cold. Police did consider the oldest daughter and her partner as the prime suspects. Things are done differently in Sweden than what I was familiar with and that it what made the story interesting to me. In Sweden, so I conclude, when a person goes missing there is a preliminary police investigation. Once that is complete and no body is located, their investigation is complete, until/unless more evidence is forthcoming. There is an all volunteer organization called Missing People. Missing people form search teams and commence hunting for those missing. According to 2010 statistics, approximately 8,000 people go missing in Sweden each year, most are located. Missing Persons combs physical areas such as drainage ditches, forests, fields, caves, etc. This story centered around Therese, who at one time was a fashion model, but lately was a stay-at-home mom. She liked the challenge and her husband was able to stay with the children so she occasionally took on the hunt. She trained and organized other volunteers and directed the hunt for Mr. Lundblad. To me, she played a dangerous game by getting involved (platonically) with one of the prime suspects. Therese practiced what she called "Intuitive interrogation strategy, which validate the other person, then present alternatives. That is what makes people talk. And some talk more than others.” I wont' summarize more so as to not give away the story. I very much enjoyed looking at how another country's judicial system works. The author "covered" the story with facts and details, yet at the same time did not allow the story line to grow old. Interesting to note that in Sweden the maximum sentence for murder is 18 years, assuming there is no torture or pain involved.

I listened to this on audio. 4 stars marked down to 3.5 because it did lag in the middle. (9 hours 17 mins=313 pages)½

Overall this story was laid out in an incredibly boring manner. It might be the translation but it read much like a report compared to the thrilling story that it is. Since it isn't written in character and more of a re-account of events, it is hard to get sucked into the story or the lives at stake.

The actual details of the case, and family are fascinating, and it's incredible that they were brought to justice at all. If you have a fascination of various justice systems, and cases in general you'll find this book interesting. But otherwise, it isn't a thrilling ride.

This is true crime in Sweden, a translation. In 2012, a man, Goran, disappears. His oldest daughter (in her 20s), Sara, is set to inherit her father’s forestry business. Goran was very well off (though stingy with what he spent). Goran had had a feud with his neighbour for a long time, and he had been upset with Sara for dating the neighbour’s son. It was longer than one would expect before Sara even reported her father missing. In the meantime, a woman named Therese had recently set up “Missing Persons”, a volunteer group who help police with searches.

The book gave a lot of info about police procedure -- what the police need to do and how they need to do it while investigating -- which I found quite interesting. I did think Therese took a few too many chances, though! Yikes! Overall, I found this really interesting and quite enjoyed reading it.

This book is strangely addictive. It’s an odd style or odd translation (from Swedish) with an awful lot of detail/history about what appears to be unrelated facts. But it is really hard to put down.

The good -- interesting enough to hold my attention; I finished it
The less good -- only interesting *enough* ...

I generally enjoy true-crime books. This one doesn't hit all the marks. Or rather, it hits too many of them, disjointed, out of sequence.

Backstory of all the players and situations, and there are a lot of players
Detailed police procedures, including verbatim transcripts of phone calls, excerpts from interviews
Forensic procedure details plus red-tape snags causing delays
Evocative prose about the actual crime (halfway into the book)

I don't expect (or want) to identify with the murderers. I do expect to forge some connection with the victim and the investigators. Unfortunately, the victim wasn't very interesting or sympathetic (albeit, he didn't deserve to be murdered). Never really cared too much about anyone else, either.

Problem *might* have been with the original being translated into English, but I think it's more the organization. I couldn't find a structure to how or why certain information was presented when it was. No pattern that made sense to me, and that left me rather disconnected from the whole thing. There you go - I finished the book, but wouldn't read it again.

Follows the investigation into the missing Swedish millionaire farmer. A group called Missing Persons, led by Therese Tang lead to the confession of the murderer.

Translated from the Swedish, this is a true crime mystery, solved by not the police, but a determined leader of a group who sends out search parties for missing persons. I can see this becoming a movie. It’s got all the elements, a cranky, miserly millionaire who goes missing, a daughter who takes up with a neighbor and gives this guy lots of money. Of course, she and her Dad quarrel. The daughter and her boyfriend are suspects but how to prove murder without a dead body is the question. Lots of detail but necessary to create the full picture of the investigation.

I've had some less than enjoyable experiences with translated fiction, and so I hesitated before option to read this translation of true crime. Aspects of a story and the emotion often get lost in the transition when translating from one language to another. I was pleasantly surprised to find this is an entertaining read that translates well.

I knew nothing about Goran Lundblad's murder or the surrounding family drama. And a drama this is! I couldn't "like" the victim, a wealthy man who lives like a pauper and plays the system so that his daughter can receive financial aid to pay for college. Still, he was a man who didn't deserve to be murdered, by any stretch of the imagination. The circumstances surrounding his murder are fascinating, in that morbid kind of way of true crime.

This book is extremely detailed, which will put off some readers. I enjoyed it, for the most part. This isn't a condensed version of the crime and how it was solved. We follow the timeline as it plays out, with all the stops, starts, and lulls of the real investigation.

The author provides a lot of information about the Swedish legal system, so those of us living in other countries get a firm understanding of the difference in how things work there. I found this aspect quite interesting.

My major stumbling point: I was confused by the 'Afterword'. This book is true crime, written in narrative style. As with all narrative true crime, I assumed this was factual, with the possible exception of occasional liberties taken with assigning specific emotion to a person's reaction or maybe altering bits of dialogue for better flow. Yet, the first line of the Afterword is, "This book constitutes one of many possible versions of a long and complex history and a gruesome crime." So now I'm stumped. That statement implies that perhaps the story didn't play out exactly as written. Maybe some details were changed. Maybe a whole bunch of things happened differently. I'm left wondering if I read a true crime nonfiction book or if I read a fictionalized version of a true crime story. Or is that line some sort of legal disclaimer to protect the author from being sued by the two convicted killers? That line needs better explanation. If this is not a completely factual true crime story, the subtitle should not call it true crime and it should have been clarified right at the opening. I'm left perplexed.

Just a few pages in, i didn’t like the writing style.½