"We Know You Remember" by Tove Alsterdal

An audio book by Faber.

It's summer. Olof Hagström, 37, does a detour while delivering a car from north Sweden to Stockholm so that he can visit the house where he grew up. He's not visited for years. When he was 14 he was accused of raping and killing a 17 year old girl, Lina. He finds his dead father there - killed by a single stab. He tries to sneak away but Patrick, who was 5 when the crime happened, appears. Hot-headed Patrick and his wife Sofia have kids and are staying with Patrick's parents. Olof's questioned by the police.

Eira Sjödin, 32, is a policewoman with a boss GG, a short-term work-partner August and a demented mother Kirsten. Eira tells her mother about her interviewing of Olof, and agrees with her mother about recent events to stop her feeling bad about herself.

Olof's released. He stays on to look after the dog. He has a sister Ingla living in Stockholm. His mother died a year before. Someone leaks his identity to the police. His house is burnt down. From his PoV we learn that he was innocent of the crime long ago. He's badly injured. The police had taken him into the woods saying "We know you remember". Lena's body was never found.

The police learn that Patrick's father had been done for gang-rape and had changed his name. His wife knows. Patrick didn't until the police told him. Patrick's mother becomes a suspect with access to a hunting knife.

The police interview Olof's last girlfriend. Eira has a one-night stand with August. Her brother Mangus lives nearby but doesn't often visit their mother. He has kids. Breeka, his friend, was Eira's first lover.

Patrick's mother knows that the DNA tests will come through soon, showing that she killed Olof's father. She writes letters. She labels the food items in the freezer.

Eira watches old interviews of the police interviews and thinks Olof was coerced into confession. He had boasted to friends on the night that he'd made love to her. Eira discovers that Mangus was Lena's boyfriend and that he claimed he was at home the night she died. His mother (Kirsten) supported him. Eira discovers that she sneaked out that night to see her lover. There were reports that Lena had been seen in a rowing boat with someone that night, that her secret boyfriend Kenny was an escaped drug addict.

An old body is found. Male. Mangus disappears. On a Facebook thread Eira notices that someone who sounds like Lena is commenting. She tracks the person down and thinks that it's Lena. Mangus tells her that he saw Lena and Kenny, and attacked Lenny. Lena killed Kenny to save Mangus. He agreed to take the blame. Then the opportunity arose to get Olaf blamed.

Other reviews

• Beth Kanell (Among today’s abundant crime novels, it’s rare to find one that demands a second reading for its language and insight. 'We Know You Remember' is one of that small group)