A pretty good book. I love the scenic touches and Ann's unquenched desire to "solve puzzles". ( )

This is the ninth title in a long-running series about an Uppsala policewoman told in a style that is a bit moody, poetic, and character-driven. By this time, Ann Lindell has left the police force and is living in a small town, working for a cheese-maker. The action (such as it is) takes place on an island where her on-again off-again lover lives. While visiting him, and thinking about their future, she learns that a woman who vanished four years earlier was seen in Portugal, and a man who was in love with her when they were teens may have seen something important the day she disappeared. Lindell can't resist digging into it, and begins to wonder if perhaps she would be happy as a police officer on the island, living with Edvard.

The characters - especially Nils Lindberg, a man who clears brush when he isn't drinking - and the ways their lives intersect on the small island community are the heart of the book. The mystery itself slowly emerges as the past is uncovered and vengeance is worked out. It's not the strongest in the series, though some of that might have been affected by the change in translators. At times it seems literal meaning takes precedence over more naturalistic dialogue. The ending snuck up on me; I may need to reread the book to figure out exactly why it concluded so abruptly, or whether I was just not paying attention. Good series, not a particularly strong entry, though.