"You Will Never Be Found" by Tove Alsterdal

An audio book set in Sweden.

Eira, about 30, is a policewoman back in her hometown of Leeland. She's helping her demented mother to move into a care home. August, a policeman who's about 25, has moved back. In the past they sometimes slept together. GG is Era's boss.

Era has a brother Mungus who's in prison for a murder he didn't commit. Era has discovered that the supposed victim is still alive but he doesn't want Era to reveal this (he covered for his girlfriend Lina). Era sleeps with August. She discovers that he's engaged - it's an open relationship.

Hans, an actor, 47, has been reported missing. He has a daughter Paloma and an ex-wife Sarner. His body is found in a cottage in a wood, missing 2 fingers.It looks like he'd been kidnapped and left there. An amateur photographer, Tonee (female) had found the body. There were ravens. Hans' final movents are puzzling. And why did he and his ex phone each other in his final week?

The case resembles one a few months before, 100s of km further North, in a town where mining has destabilised the houses. In that case the captive survived. He's married with a child. They interview him. He doesn't tell them that he feels guilty now - had he not lied to the police, Hans might still be alive. The police later discover that he made visits to Leeland. When interviewed he admits to seeing a woman (Han's ex, it turns out). Hans' ex admits to sleeping with GG. A dead, mummified body is found hidden in the flat of Hans' ex.

Police deduce that Hans cut off his own fingers to use them as bait to capture and eat ravens.

GG goes missing. His colleagues don't at first make it public - in the past he'd gone on a bender.

Houses were used that were known to Sarner. Era, visiting Sarner's grandmother, guesses that a lighthouse on an island meant something. She found GG on the island nearly dead.

Evidence against Lina is found.

The motivation for the murders is that a mentally troubled women overreacted when the promise of True Love went bad.

Eira is pregnant. August? It could have been an old friend.

Other reviews

• Steve Donoghue
• Warner Holme (For those unfamiliar with Sweden and Nordic noir overall, getting used to what may be new names and locations can be difficult. They are put out in a matter of fact manner, quickly and with little explanation. This is noticeably different from the way fantasy, historical fiction, or science fiction typically find a way to insert explanations.)

"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)