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Book Review of Unseen: A Mystery

Unseen: A Mystery
MSCOZY avatar reviewed on


Helena's family owns a house on the island of Gotland, near Sweden. She invites her lover and some other friends to a party there. After some drinking, her lover, Per, becomes jealous and they have a row. It becomes physical.

The next morning, Helena rises early and goes for her customary walk along the beach accompanied by her dog. The island is swathed in pea-soup fog, making that which is visible appear surreal. Later that morning, her body is found naked, chopped by an axe and her panties, the only piece of clothing found, are stuffed in her mouth. Also, the dog is located missing a paw and almost beheaded. Suspicion naturally falls on her lover, Per, and he is arrested.

With Per in jail, another woman is murdered and like Helena, is found naked except for the panties stuffed in her mouth, but the weapon used was not an axe here. Pressure is put on Detective Superintendent Knutas to solve the murders before any more women are killed. On the scene appears Johan Berg, an intrepid journalist who seems to be able to find out details in the murders not released to the media or public.

Looking into Helena's past they come across a scandal when she was 17. But are the two women related or associated in any way or are they simply random victims? It takes another murder before some of the pieces begin to fall into place.

I enjoyed the story and suspense as done by Mari Jungstedt, the writer. This is the first book I have read by her but I certainly look forward to her others!