Brought together by a brutal murder, a psychological profiler who’s lost her memory and a teenage boy with a fiercely guarded secret become unwitting, unlikely partners in this race to stop a killer—“Nordic noir at its best” (Booklist, starred review). Named the Best Nordic Crime Novel of the Year by the Crime Writers of Scandinavia Out of the frozen depths of a forest in Ormberg, Sweden, a woman … of a forest in Ormberg, Sweden, a woman stumbles onto the road. Her arms are covered with scratches, her feet are bare, and she has no memory of who she is. Local police identify her as psychological profiler Hanne Lagerlind-Schön, who, with her partner, had been helping investigate the cold case of a young woman’s murder. Hanne begins to recover but cannot recall anything about where her partner is, or what their investigation had uncovered before her disappearance. Police have only one lead: a young woman in a sequined dress who was spotted nearby the night Hanne was found.
The young woman doesn’t come forward because she doesn’t exist: Jake Birgersson, a local teenager, had been out walking in his mother’s dress and sister’s makeup, his secret shame and thrill. Terrified of discovery, Jake hid and watched Hanne get into a car, leaving behind her diary.
Reading Hanne’s notebook, Jake realizes that it contains the key to a major breakthrough in the case—but turning it in would mean admitting the truth about who he is. When another murder victim is found in the woods, Jake realizes that Hanne herself is in danger, and his only choice is to find and warn her so that together, they can stop the killer before he strikes again.
Praise for After She’s Gone
“[A] stellar crime novel . . . Grebe delivers an unflinching, heart-wrenching message about the plight of refugees in this scorching thriller.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
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I seem to be reading a lot of police mysteries/thrillers that are set in Finland/Sweden/Iceland lately. I don’t know why I am drawn to them, but I am. It is a combination of fascination with how their laws work and the culture.
The first 30-35% was slow. I don’t like books with slow beginnings. But, in this case, it worked. This plotline needed to be built up. I needed to read about what happened to Malin and Jake. I needed to see what formed them into the people that they were. I also needed to read about what was happening to Hanne through her diary. Once all the backstories were explained, then the ball started rolling. And man did it catch momentum.
Jake was the character I connected with. He had a lot of turmoil over the past year and kept to himself. It was his secret and what he thought about himself because of it that hurt my heart. His character growth came when he started to read Hanne’s diary. He related to Hanne and started to care for her. Not going to give anything away but Jake was the true hero of the book. He came to accept himself for what he was. His actions at the end of the book broke a cold case wide open and released secrets that were long buried.
I didn’t care for Malin. While she was a great detective, I didn’t care for her on a personal level. Her dislike for her fellow team member had no reason. She didn’t like him. I did agree with Manfred that she was racist. She protested way too much throughout that scene. She wasn’t a sympathetic character. Even with everything that was revealed at the end, I couldn’t help but go “Oh well” when it happened.
I felt awful for Hanne. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be losing my memory. Especially if I had a job where my memory has to be sharp. Hanne’s confusion and sadness came across the pages. I understood why she needed the diary. To be honest, I thought that Peter was drugging her at one point in the book. His secretiveness (or what Hanne perceived to be) was suspicious. I also wondered if she was going to remember everything that happened to her.
I thought that the plotlines were well written. I got involved with the mystery behind who the woman was and how she could be related to the girl found 8 years earlier. The author did a fantastic job of pointing out latent racism. The resentfulness that people had against the refugees could have been pulled from the headlines. Same with the bullying that Jake endured.
I was surprised at the end of the book. I wasn’t expecting the “bad guys” to be who they were. It was a twist that came out of nowhere. I was thinking how Malin and her partner picked up was the killer. Also, the confession was chilling. Talk about no remorse. I was also surprised at how Malin was tied into what happened. Again, a twist that I didn’t see coming.
Quite hard to follow the story and I found that I wasn’t really connecting with the characters. Quite a shame because it looked like an amazing book.
This was an excellent mystery novel. It was very well written and the descriptions of the brutal weather were very realistic, as were the characters. The story line itself was an unexpectedly unusual one, which made this a real pleasure to read. I very strongly recommend this to anyone looking for an out of the ordinary, fabulous read.
My thanks to Netgalley, the author Camilla Grebe and the publisher Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine for my free ARC. This is my completely honest opinion.
SHE HOLDS THE KEY TO A MURDER – SHE JUST DOESN’T REMEMBER . . .
“After She’s Gone” is the second novel by Camilla Grebe following on from the success of “The Ice Beneath Her”. Although part of a series, it can easily be read as a standalone, like I did and still be thoroughly enjoyed.
I’ve read quite a few ‘Scandi Noir’ thriller books recently and although excellently written, found them to be over detailed and too atmospheric. Thankfully “After She’s Gone” is a refreshing change as the author hasn’t dwelled too much on the negativity’s of the cold, harsh Swedish winters and icy conditions but instead focused
on the well plotted storyline. I was engrossed from the very first page and the excellent character development allowed for me to engage with all the characters immediately. I particularly loved young Jake and Saga’s friendship. The story is told from the point of view of three of the main characters, teenager Jake, police officer Malin and criminal profiler Hanne and interspersed with the recounting of Hanne’s diary that relates the details of what actually happened leading up to Hanne’s memory loss. The plight of asylum seekers living in refugees in Sweden and Jake’s secret that he calls ‘The Sickness’ was handled with compassion and the author captured the feelings of the residents of Ormberg towards the refugees perfectly.
With the right amount of atmospheric detail and a truly intriguing and entertaining plot line, I really did enjoy reading this book cover to cover and although I own but have not read “The Ice Beneath Her” I do intend to read very soon. I highly recommend “After She’s Gone” and the author Camille Grebe and hope that she continues with the ‘Flickorna och mörkret’ series in the future.
4.5 stars
After a horrifying experience in her teens Malin has become a police officer, determined to help people and use it as a way to leave her small town behind for good. When a task force is set up to clear old cases she is called back to Ormberg and the case that changed her life forever. Just a few days into revisiting the case of the dead child never claimed, Peter, an investigator, goes missing, and Hanne, a psychological profile and his partner, is found wandering, her diary missing and her memory gone. Malin must pair up with the lead detective and the obnoxious local to find find Peter and solve an old crime that never should have gone cold. The only clue they have is a young woman in a sparkling dress, but Ormberg is a classic small town and the person in that dress is terrified to come forward and admit who they really are. As they read Hanne’s diary though, the one left on the ground when she was picked up, they find they must help even if they must risk everything.
Told from the perspective of three protagonists, After She’s Gone follows Malin, Hanne, and young Jake as a cold case comes roaring back to life. While the old murder and active crimes make up the majority of the novel, I truly believe this is a story about identity. I ached for Jake as he fought for what he believed to be normalcy among his broken family and against a town filled with hate. He holds the key to the answers, but in his youth fails to see the importance of the diary he found. Risking the truth is too much for him and I think it was a powerful exploration into self worth and how the things we are taught can influence someone even when they know what is right. Malin is desperate to leave her hometown behind once again, regardless of her mothers deteriorating condition and the knowledge of the area only she can offer to the others on the task force. The novel explores the past that has shaped her, the future she imagines, and her innermost thoughts as she faces the difficult task of finding her missing teammates and recognizing the biases she still holds about the town. Finally, we have Hanne, an incredibly famous psychological profile with a well-kept secret, dementia is taking her memory away one day at a time. Her diary holds all the answers and it was so incredible that Hanne’s chapters were really the diary and that as readers, we, along with Jake, knew the answers but were unable to help Malin with them.
The three are faced with a horrifying crime, one they thought was long forgotten, but is now seeping into the town and their lives once again. After She’s Gone is the kind of book you read with a notebook beside you, ready to write down any hint or thread of truth. There’s so much going on in the novel, but Camilla Grebe ties it all together quite nicely. Not only is there traditional crime, murder and kidnapping, the novel also touches on crimes of life, such as prejudices, refugees, and the hate one experiences for their sexuality, their beliefs, for their mental state. I found the chilling tale, set in the dark woods of fictional Ormberg, Sweden, fascinating and I could not put it down.
While I did not read the first novel in the Flickorna och mörkret #2 series, I do think After She’s Gone read perfectly well as a standalone. Camilla Grebe provides plenty of information for you to know the characters and I never felt as though a story from the previous novels carried over. The novel, while fictional, reads quite like a true crime novel and the town is very much like any small town today. I could picture the characters and the setting and I could feel the emotions that rolled from the characters like waves. Camilla Grebe has given us a novel with a strong narrative that is relatable and terrifying all at once.
Camilla Grebe gives us a marvelous, twisted tale of crime, horror, and mystery. True to the Nordic Noir genre, the novel has a continuous dark and eerie feel. An adolescent boy, struggling to find his identity and a detective brought back to a home she’s left behind get thrown together in the mystery behind a missing woman and a ten year old unsolved murder. The plot is multidimensional and supported by elaborate and wonderfully depicted characters. A compelling crime fiction novel. Wonderfully written. 5 stars.