Mari Jungstedt

Unspoken is the second novel in Mari Jungstedt's Inspector Knutas series, set on the island of Gotland. It opens with alcoholic photographer Henry Dahlstrom winning a packet on the races, and subsequently coming to a sticky end. Dahlstrom appears to have been murdered for his winnings; a pretty straightforward case. However there are some loose ends that cause Knutas to look further. As the investigation proceeds, fourteen year old Fanny Jansson is becoming deeply embroiled in a highly dubious relationship.

A warning: Jungstedt peppers her story with back-references to the first Knutas novel, Unseen. Nearly all of the main characters are introduced with a bit of back story from the earlier novel, to the point where you pretty much give up any inclination to read it, as she gives away almost all of its plot. She clearly expects you to read her novels in sequence, as the ending of Unspoken clearly demonstrates.

I found this novel irritating, in part because of its not standing independently of the earlier novel. Jungstedt should read the Martin Beck novels to see how to write a linked series without ruining it for people who come in part-way. I also thought that far too much of what went on was extraneous to the crime and the investigation. I like my detective novels to be more tautly written than this and to me a lot of this book seemed like padding for the sake of continuing story threads in the series. I won't be bothering with any more of these books.… (mais)

Arguineguín, un pequeño y tranquilo pueblo de Gran Canaria, se ha convertido en el retiro de una amplia colonia de ciudadanos escandinavos que buscan el sol y el mar en el singular paisaje de la isla. La joven y hermosa Erika Bergman llega para pasar unos días de descanso en una escuela de yoga dentro de un enclave privilegiado, pero un asesino trunca sus planes y acaba con su vida... Y con la paz que hasta entonces se respiraba en el paraíso.
En encargado de la investigación, el comisario Diego Quintana, cuenta con la colaboración de Sara Moberg, la intrépida redactora del diario escandinavo Dag&Natt, que lleva más de veinte años viviendo en la isla; y con la del expolicía Kristian Wede, cuya vida privada no pasa precisamente por el mejor momento. Todo son preguntas sin resolver: ¿qué atormentaba a Erika? ¿Qué pasó la noche del crimen? ¿Por qué el asesino engalanó el cadáver como si se tratara de la Venus de Botticelli?… (mais)