The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg

A tale as delightfully chilling as its coastal Swedish setting

The Ice Princess

By Camilla Lackberg, Translated by Stephen T. Murray

Free Press

The Ice Princess is a suspenseful mystery set in an off-season, Scandinavian seaside village called Fjallbacka. Erica Falck, a well-known biographer who has moved away from her roots and into a bigger city, has returned to Fjallbacka to organize her parents’ estate after they perish in an auto accident. The cold, gray village, empty of tourists in this winter season, sets the grim mood. Just after arriving, Erica is second on the scene when her dear childhood friend’s body is discovered in what has been made to look like a suicide. Erica teams up with another old friend, detective Patrik Hedstrom, to uncover the true events. I very much enjoyed the story, the dismal feel of solitude that came through very clearly with the author’s descriptions of Fjallbacka in the off season. Although the translator’s accolades include having translated The Millennium Trilogy, I felt in The Ice Princess, just here and there, the ghost of the translator standing between me and the author’s writing. This very thin barrier could have been in my own perception, and I look forward to reading more by Ms. Lackberg to see if the feeling persists. The book was first written in the author’s native language in 2003, and translated to English in 2009. I look forward to reading more by Camilla Lackberg – starting with The Preacher, which is the next in the Fjallbacka series.

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