More Bitter Than Death: A Novel - Softcover

Grebe, Camilla

Softcover

ISBN 10: 145165460X ISBN 13: 9781451654608

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2013

Synopsis

In the chilling follow-up to Some Kind of Peace, Siri Bergman returns to investigate a brutal murder case centered in the dark world of domestic abuse.

It’s a rainy evening in a Stockholm suburb and five-year-old Tilda is hiding under the kitchen table playing with her crayons when a man enters and beats her mother to death in cold blood. The only witness, Tilda can’t quite see the murderer or figure out who he is. But she’s still a witness.

Across town, Siri Bergman and her best friend, Aina, are assisting their old friend Vijay with a research project on domestic abuse. They host a weekly self-help group for survivors, and over the course of several dark, rainy evenings, these women share their stories of impossible love, violence, and humiliation. When the boyfriend of one of the women turns out to be a prime suspect in a high-profile murder case, it isn’t long before Siri finds herself embroiled in the investigation. But as she draws closer to finding the murderer, unexpected developments in her own life force her to wonder: Can she learn to trust a man again in spite of being surrounded by women who have been so deeply betrayed by love?

About this title

About the Author

Camilla Grebe is a graduate of the Stockholm School of Economics. She was a cofounder of Storyside, a Swedish audiobook publisher, where she was both CEO and publisher during the early 2000s. She lives in Stockholm, Sweden.

Åsa Träff is a psychologist specializing in cognitive behavioral therapy. She runs a private practice with her husband. She lives in Älvsjö, Sweden.

 

From Booklist

Conducting an experimental self-help group of women who have been victims of violence, Stockholm psychologist Siri Bergman and her friend and colleague Aina hear five women recount experiencing pain and degradation, usually at the hands of the men closest to them. Siri is particularly taken by Kattis, whose stories of her abusive ex-husband, Henrik, seem verified when Henrik’s lover, Suzanne, is brutally murdered, an attack witnessed only by Suzanne’s five-year-old daughter, who is kidnapped soon after. When Henrik, angry and armed, breaks into the group, more violence ensues. Meanwhile, narrator Siri struggles with the love for her dead husband that keeps her from committing fully to a relationship with Markus, even after she becomes pregnant with their child. Interspersed reports from counselors of a boy with increasingly severe behavioral problems add to a growing sense of dread that permeates the novel. Swedish authors excel at novels of dark suspense, and sisters Grebe and Traff (Some Kind of Peace, 2012) top off this fine psychological thriller with a final, chilling twist. --Michele Leber

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 145165460X
• ISBN 13: 9781451654608
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320