Cecilia Ekbäck

"The Historians blends a fascinating historical intrigue with the quick pace and excitement of a thriller." -- Ellen Keith, author of The Dutch Wife The Secret History meets The Alice Network in this riveting tale of murder and conspiracy in Sweden during WWII by critically acclaimed author Cecilia Eckbäck. It is 1943 and Sweden's neutrality in the war is under pressure. Laura Dahlgren, the bright, young right-hand of the chief negotiator to Germany, is privy to these tensions, even as she tries to keep her head down in the mounting fray. However, when Laura's best friend from university, Britta, is discovered murdered in cold blood, Laura is determined to find the killer. Prior to her death, Britta sent a report on the racial profiling in Scandinavia to the secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jens Regnell. In the middle of negotiating a delicate alliance with Hitler and the Nazis, Jens doesn't understand why he's received the report. When the pursuit of Britta's murderer leads Laura to his door, the two join forces to get at the truth. But as Jens and Laura attempt to untangle the mysterious circumstance surrounding Britta's death, they only become more mired in a web of lies and deceit. This trail will lead to a conspiracy that could topple their nation's identity--a conspiracy some in Sweden will try to keep hidden at any cost.

The Historians

'Ekbäck once again proves that she is in the very front rank of Scandinavian crime writers.' Independent An orphaned boy brought up to serve the state as a man. A rich young woman incapable of living by the conventions of society. Neither is prepared for the journey into the heat, mystery, violence and disorienting perpetual daylight of the far North. Stockholm 1856. Magnus is a geologist. When the Minister sends him to survey the distant but strategically vital Lapland region around Blackasen Mountain, it is a perfect cover for another mission: Magnus must investigate why one of the nomadic Sami people, native to the region, has apparently slaughtered in cold blood a priest, a law officer and a settler in their rectory. Is there some bigger threat afoot? Blackasen seems to be a place of many secrets. But the Minister has more than a professional tie to Magnus, and at the last moment, he adds another responsibility. Disgusted by the wayward behaviour of his daughter Lovisa - Magnus's sister-in law - the Minister demands that Magnus take her with him on his arduous journey. Thus the two unlikely companions must venture out of the sophisticated city, up the coast and across country, to the rough-hewn religion and politics of the settler communities, the mystical, pre-Christian ways of the people who have always lived on this land, and the strange, compelling light of the midnight sun. For Lovisa and Magnus, nothing can ever be the same again.

In the Month of the Midnight Sun

Swedish Lapland: 1717; a group of disparate settlers struggles to forge a new life in the shadow of the grim mountain Blackasen whose dark mythology lies at odds with the repressive, almost feudal control exerted by the church. Into this setting, Maija, her husband and two daughters arrive, yearning to forget the traumas that caused them to abandon their native Finland and start anew. Not long after their arrival, their teenage daughter Frederika stumbles across the savagely mutilated body of a fellow settler, Eriksson, in a picturesque glade. The locals are quick to dismiss the culprit as wolf or bear. Maija, however, is unconvinced and compelled by the ghosts of her past she determines to investigate a murder. As the seasons change and a harsh winter known as a 'Wolf Winter' descends, Maija begins a dangerous quest to unearth the secrets that both her neighbours and the church have conspired to bury. Now as the snow begins to fall, she will come to know the full cost of survival demanded from those who would live in the shadow of Blackasen and the terrible truth about those who have paid the price.

a novel

Wolf winter

Así como la nieve oculta la tierra, los habitantes del monte Blackåsen esconden los más temibles secretos. UN BEST SELLER INTERNACIONAL TRADUCIDO A MÁS DE 10 IDIOMAS. UN THRILLER OSCURO COMO LA NOCHE, FRÍO COMO EL HIELO, AMBIENTADO EN LA SUECIA DEL SIGLO xviii.

El invierno más largo

La oscura luz del sol de medianoche (Spanish Edition)

The Secret History meets The Alice Network in this riveting tale of murder and conspiracy in Sweden during World War II It is 1943 and Sweden's neutrality in the war is under pressure. Laura Dahlgren, a bright young historian who is the right hand of the chief negotiator with Germany, is privy to ongoing discussions about the transport of German soldiers to occupied Norway and German access to Swedish iron ore. When Laura finds out that Britta, her former best friend and fellow classmate, has been murdered in cold blood, she is determined to find the killer. Laura learns that Britta had sent a report on racial profiling in Scandinavia to the secretary of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jens Regnell. Jens, who is in the middle of negotiating a delicate alliance with Hitler and the Nazis, doesn't understand why he has received the report. When the pursuit of Britta's murderer leads Laura to his door, the two join forces to discover the truth. But as Jens and Laura attempt to untangle the mysterious circumstances surrounding Britta's death, they only become more mired in a web of lies and deceit. This trail eventually leads them to a shocking revelation, a conspiracy that could topple their nation's identity--a conspiracy some elements in Sweden will try to keep hidden at any cost.

A Novel

“The Historians blends a fascinating historical intrigue with the quick pace and excitement of a thriller.” — Ellen Keith, author of The Dutch Wife “The perfect read…. Exciting and enjoyable .” — New York Times Book Review The Secret History meets The Alice Network in this riveting tale of murder and conspiracy in Sweden during WWII by critically acclaimed author Cecilia Eckbäck. It is 1943 and Sweden’s neutrality in the war is under pressure. Laura Dahlgren, the bright, young right-hand of the chief negotiator to Germany, is privy to these tensions, even as she tries to keep her head down in the mounting fray. However, when Laura’s best friend from university, Britta, is discovered murdered in cold blood, Laura is determined to find the killer. Prior to her death, Britta sent a report on the racial profiling in Scandinavia to the secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jens Regnell. In the middle of negotiating a delicate alliance with Hitler and the Nazis, Jens doesn’t understand why he’s received the report. When the pursuit of Britta’s murderer leads Laura to his door, the two join forces to get at the truth. But as Jens and Laura attempt to untangle the mysterious circumstance surrounding Britta’s death, they only become more mired in a web of lies and deceit. This trail will lead to a conspiracy that could topple their nation’s identity—a conspiracy some in Sweden will try to keep hidden at any cost.

A thrilling novel of conspiracy and intrigue during World War II

A chilling new historical crime novel from the author of the international bestseller Wolf Winter An orphaned boy brought up to serve the state as a man. A rich young woman incapable of living by the conventions of society. Neither is prepared for the journey into the heat, mystery, violence and disorienting perpetual daylight of the far north. Sweden, 1856. The minister of justice has received a disturbing message. There’s been a massacre on one of Lapland’s mountains: a priest, a law enforcement officer and a local settler have been slaughtered by one of the indigenous Sami people. The murderer is in custody, but he refuses to talk. The minister dispatches his geologist son-in-law, Magnus, to investigate, as there is another reason to visit Blackåsen: it is a mountain with many secrets, a mountain whose rich mineral deposits have never been exploited. But Magnus does not journey alone. The minister’s daughter, Lovisa, in disgrace, is sent with him. The two unlikely companions venture out of the sweltering city to the wild landscape of Sweden’s far north under the strange, insomnia-inducing light of the midnight sun. There, the shocking truth they discover about the murders and what lies behind them will be matched only by what they discover about themselves. The Midnight Sun is a riveting story of the collision of worlds old and new, and cements Ekbäck’s status as a master of Nordic noir.

The Midnight Sun

Una historia de asesinato y conspiraciones en la Suecia más peligrosa de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Por la autora best seller internacional de El invierno más largo y La oscura luz del sol de medianoche.

La estudiante de Historia

Winner of the 2016 HWA Goldsboro Debut Crown Award. 'Exquisitely suspenseful, beautifully written, and highly recommended.' Lee Child There are six homesteads on Blackåsen Mountain. A day's journey away lies the empty town. It comes to life just once, in winter, when the Church summons her people through the snows. Then, even the oldest enemies will gather. But now it is summer, and new settlers are come. It is their two young daughters who find the dead man, not half an hour's walk from their cottage. The father is away. And whether stubborn, or stupid, or scared for her girls, the mother will not let it rest. To the wife who is not concerned when her husband does not come home for three days; to the man who laughs when he hears his brother is dead; to the priest who doesn't care; she asks and asks her questions, digging at the secrets of the mountain. They say a wolf made those wounds. But what wild animal cuts a body so clean?

Winner of the 2016 HWA Goldsboro Debut Crown Award

Wolf Winter

La oscura luz del sol de medianoche

El nuevo thriller histórico de Cecilia Ekback. Una novela repleta de intriga y suspense. Cien años después de los escalofriantes hechos relatados en El invierno más largo, pero en el mismo escenario cautivador, La oscura luz del sol de medianoche se desarrolla en la mitad del verano, bajo la abrasadora luz de un sol que nunca está en paz.

Swedish Lapland, 1717. Maija, her husband and their two daughters arrive from their native Finland, hoping to forget the traumas of the past and put down roots in this harsh but beautiful land. Above them looms Blackasen, a mountain whose dark history haunts the lives of those in its shadow. While herding the family’s goats on the mountain, Maija’s elder daughter, Frederika, stumbles across the mutilated body of one of their neighbours, Eriksson. The community dismisses the death as a wolf attack, but Maija feels certain it was murder. Compelled to investigate despite her neighbours’ unconcern, Maija is drawn into the history of tragedies and betrayals that have taken place on Blackasen. Meanwhile, young Frederika is pulled toward the mountain as well, feeling something no one around her seems to notice. The seasons change, and the harshest winter in memory—known as a “wolf winter”—descends upon them. Struggling to survive, the settlers are forced to come together, but Maija, not knowing whom to trust, is still determined to find answers. As the snow gathers, the settlers’ secrets are laid bare. Soon Maija will discover the true cost of survival under the mountain—and what it will take to make it to spring.

Cecilia Ekbäck

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