Name: The nightmare
ISBN: 9780007414505

Lars Kepler

On a summer night the body of a woman is found on board an abandoned pleasure boat drifting around the Stockholm archipelago. Her lungs are filled with water, but her clothes are completely dry. Detective Inspector Joona Linna takes up the case.

The nightmare

Sian Wadey

I read this on my Mum's recommendation as a great foreign murder mystery. My Mum isn't usually wrong but this book didn't live up to expectation.
The story follows Joona Linna an odd Finnish police detective as he solves crime in Sweden. 
The Nightmare centres around Penelope Fernandez, a Peace Activist who is on the run after she finds her sister dead on her boyfriend's boat. All of the events that follow are surrounded by a single photograph taken and displayed in Penelope's flat.
I liked the character of Joona Linna, but this is the second book in the series and I felt like I was missing out on some information. There were two women that he both appeared to be in a relationship with, but I was confused as to who they were and to be honest, I didn't really care.
Lars Kepler who is incidentally, two people, writes action very well. There is a scene at the German Embassy which is particularly tense and exciting. But the characters is where this falls flat. They aren't particularly likeable or interesting. There is no one I'm rooting for. Although having said that I particularly liked Axel Reissen and following his actions. The musicality of his character and his pains and problems were interesting to me.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and it wasn't poorly written, it was a decent book, but it had no pull or excitement for me. I might read more Lars Kepler in the future, but it's not jumping off the shelf at me.

The nightmare

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