The Second Deadly Sin by Åsa Larsson

Category: 50 Books

seconddeadlysinThis is the 5th book in the Rebecka Martinsson series.

I was looking forward to reading this one because I loved book #4, Until Thy Wrath Be Past, so much. That book was so different than the others and now it seems in book #5 we’re back on track to regular mystery solving without the help of a ghost. And make no mistake, I’m glad. If this series had turned into some kind of supernatural mysteries series I’d be turned off right away.

So anyway, we’re back to Martinsson and Mella solving mysteries in Kiruna, Sweden. The book switches between two stories, one in 1914 when the town of Kiruna is a new mining town full of promise and roughnecks (think of Deadwood), and the mystery of the present time: a local lady who happens to be the town drunk is brutally murdered with a pitchfork in front of her young grandson. I wasn’t sure if I was going to like the historical B-story plot with the rich mining manager and the school marm, but I loved it.

The A-story with Martinsson and Mella was a great mystery. It moved quickly. There is a plot device child, Marcus, the grandson of the murder victim, but I can’t really complain about that character because he’s written very well and not too precious. Plot device children can be tricky, they can be too perfect, poppet-y, or they’re a total McGuffin and that’s just insulting to the reader and children in general. Larsson does a good job with Marcus.

I love that Martinsson and Mella have great repsect for each other and have a good professional relationship with each other, but can we please have them as BFFs? They both need a woman friend, amirite? We do get to see Martinsson hang out with Lars Pohjanen, the medical examiner. That was such fun! And she gets closer to the K9 cop, Ericksson, thank God, because if you don’t love that character then you have no soul. So I love that everyone is becoming more friendly with each other as the series progresses.

I won’t spoil anything here, but at the end of the book Rebecka has to make a decision, and I cried like a baby. Real tears came out of my eyeballs.

Dear Asa Larsson,

YOU ARE A MONSTER AND YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHY.

Love,

Jaimie

The Second Deadly Sin is a great book. If you’ve enjoyed the series so far, you’ll like this one as well. If you haven’t read this series, but you like Swedish mysteries in general, you’ll love it.

Tags: ,

No Comments