The Disappeared - Hardcover

Ohlsson, Kristina

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1471126951 ISBN 13: 9781471126956

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2013

Synopsis

'When the film begins she has no idea what she is about to see. Nor does she realise what devastating consequences this film and the decisions she then makes will have on the rest of her life.' The body of a young woman is found carved up and buried in a forest glade in an innocuous Swedish suburb. Alex Recht and his team in the Stockholm Police soon identify the body as belonging to missing student, Rebecca Trolle, but as his team continues to excavate the site, they soon find that someone has been returning to the same spot to bury their victims year after year, decade after decade. Investigative Analyst Fredrika Bergman is assigned the task of delving into Rebecca's private life. But little does she know that her enquiries are about to uncover evidence that will put her actions under scrutiny from Internal Affairs, and will throw her private life into turmoil. And what does the case have to do with the elderly children's author living in a care home . . . who has never spoken a word to anyone since she arrived years ago? Kristina Ohlsson has already sold more than 830,000 copies worldwide. Now discover for yourself what makes her Sweden's favourite crime writer.

About this title

About the Author

Kristina Ohlsson is a political scientist and until recently held the position of Counter-Terrorism Officer at OSCE (the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe). She has previously worked at the Swedish Security Service, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Swedish National Defense College. Kristina lives in Stockholm.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The Disappeared 1

The sun had been up for less than an hour when Jörgen saw a dead person for the first time. The frequent snowfalls of the winter followed by the spring rain had softened the ground and made the water levels rise. The combined forces of wind and weather had worked through layer after layer of the earth covering the body, and eventually a huge crater had opened up in the ground between the rocks and the trees.

However, the dead woman still wasn’t fully visible. It was the dog that dug her up. Jörgen was standing among the trees, somewhat at a loss.

“Come on now, Svante.”

He had always found it difficult to make his voice heard, to gain the respect of others. His boss had pointed this out in countless appraisal interviews, and his wife had left him for that very reason.

“You take up so little room that you’re practically bloody invisible,” she had said on the night she moved out.

And now here he was, standing in an unfamiliar forest with a dog that didn’t even belong to him. His sister had insisted that he move into their house while he was looking after Svante. It was only for a week, after all, and surely it didn’t make any difference to Jörgen where he lived for such a short time?

She was wrong; Jörgen could feel it in every fiber of his body. It made a huge difference where a person lived. Neither he nor Svante were particularly happy with this arrangement.

Weak rays of sunshine filtered down through the trees, making the glade glow softly in a golden light. Silent and peaceful. The only disturbing element was Svante’s constant scrabbling in the pile of earth, his front paws thumping out a drumbeat on the ground. Soil was flying in all directions.

“Svante, come here,” Jörgen ventured, with a little more authority this time. But the dog was deaf to his plea and started to whimper with excitement and frustration. Jörgen sighed. He walked wearily over to the dog and clumsily patted his back.

“Listen, it’s time we went home. I mean, we were here yesterday too. We can come back tomorrow.”

He could hear the way he sounded: as if he were talking to a small child. But Svante was not a child. He was a German shepherd who weighed something in the region of thirty kilos, and he had picked up the scent of something that was a lot more interesting than his owner’s weary brother, standing there on a mossy mound banging his feet up and down.

“You need to show him who’s boss,” Jörgen’s sister had said. “Give clear commands.”

A burst of birdsong made Jörgen glance around anxiously. He was overcome by a sudden fear that someone else was nearby.

With one click he attached Svante’s lead, and was about to embark on the final battle to get the dog home when he saw the plastic sack that had been exposed by Svante’s efforts. The dog’s jaws were locked, his teeth biting through the plastic; he tore away a large piece of the sack.

A body?

A dead person buried in the ground?

“Svante, come away!” Jörgen roared.

The dog froze in midmovement and backed away. For the first and only time he obeyed his temporary master.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1471126951
• ISBN 13: 9781471126956
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 480