The Preacher by Camilla Lackberg

Many reviewers have compared The Preacher  to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo but I didn't think they were anything alike except for the fact that they are both set in Scandanavian countries. I loved the whole Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, and I felt the same about The Preacher but I saw little similarities.

The Preacher is set in a Swedish fishing village and most of the actions takes place there and nearby.

Though the plot was dark, the main characters were wonderful, normal acting people. Patrik Hedstrom, the detective, is not an alcoholic or drug addict, and he loves his pregnant wife Erica. When he's faced with a most complicated case he sets about solving it in the old-fashioned way--going from place to place and talking to many people. Yes, he feels some guilt for leaving Erica alone so much, but he's compelled to find the answers to a most unusual case.

Besides the strange family who are tangled up somehow with newly discovered but old skeletons and missing girls from the past and present, Patrik must also deal with the pressing problems Erica faces when unwanted company arrives on their doorstep. The author has done a great job creating believable characters and giving us a peek into a part of Sweden. Terrific story with a tangled plot and most surprising ending.

Book Blurb:

Police detective Patrik Hedström and his girlfriend, writer Erica Falck, are anticipating the arrival of their first child when grim news comes: a boy playing on a perilous outcropping has stumbled across a woman’s bloody corpse, a discovery that leads investigators to uncover two skeletons buried beneath her—campers who disappeared decades ago. Superintendent Mellberg gives Patrik the gruesome case, and topping his list of suspects is a local family of criminals and religious fanatics—what dark secrets are they hiding? But no one expects the next blow, when a young girl goes missing. . . .

Camilla Läckberg worked as an economist in Stockholm until a course in creative writing triggered a drastic career change.  Her novels have all been top bestsellers in Sweden and have sold worldwide in thirty-five countries.  She lives with her husband and children in a quaint suburb of Stockholm.  Visit her website at www.camillalackberg.com.

(Simon and Schuster sent me an ARC of The Preacher--I am not paid to do reviews.)