Twenty-three years ago, a young woman was murdered on the Swedish island of Lidingö.
The island has kept its silence.
Until now…
As autumn deepens into darkness in Lidingö, on the Stockholm archipelago, the island is plunged into chaos: in the space of a week, two teenaged boys are murdered. Their bodies are left deep in the forest, dressed in white tunics with crowns of candles on their heads, like offerings to Saint Lucia.
Maïa Rehn has fled Paris for Lidingö after a family tragedy. But when the murders shake the island community, the former police commissioner is drawn into the heart of the investigation, joining Commissioner Aleksander Storm to unravel a mystery as chilling as the Nordic winter.
As they dig deeper, it becomes clear that a wind of vengeance is blowing through the archipelago, unearthing secrets that are as scandalous as they are inhuman.
But what if the victims weren’t who they seemed? What if those long silenced have finally found a way to strike back?
How far would they go to make their tormentors pay?
And you – how far would you go?
It's my pleasure to be hosting the blog tour for Scars of Silence by Johana Gustawsson today. Many thanks to Orenda Books and Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for inviting me and for my advance copy of the novel.
Johana Gustawsson is such a deceptively beautiful writer; her stunning prose exudes heartfelt empathy but her exploration of dark, harrowing topics invariably pierces my soul. Scars of Silence is a searingly compulsive read which demands to be read in a single emotion-filled sitting. The shocking opening scene immediately sets the tone for what follows; as the tragedy unfolds, the context is as yet unclear but the intermingling of horror and grief here becomes a constant theme throughout the novel.
A book which explores such agonising subjects as Scars of Silence has to be imbued with a deep sense of humanity to be truly effective and it needs believable characters whose stories readers become invested in. Johana Gustawsson's two main protagonists, Maïa Rehn and Commissioner Aleksander Storm exemplify her fine balancing of a tense, unsettling plot with nuanced, perceptive characterisation but the supporting characters are equally as impressive. Maïa is the outsider whose family ties have brought her to the Swedish island of Lidingö from Paris following her own tragedy, the facts of which are gradually revealed as the novel progresses. Her experience working for the French police and Interpol means she can't turn down a request from a new friend who, despite her wealth, has been unable to persuade the authorities to look again at what appeared to be an open-and-shut-case. She is drawn into an investigation into a brutal murder case which bears an uncanny resemblance to another investigation many years previously and which lays bare stark, uncomfortable truths about institutional and societal attitudes towards the perceived behaviour of victims.
She teams up with Aleksander Storm and as they struggle to figure out what links the deceased, both have to come to terms with the end of the lives they had expected to lead. The friendship which develops between them provides a touching backdrop to the intense drama that ensues here. The traditional St Lucia Day festival should be a celebration of light and hope in the dark chill of a Swedish December but in Lidingö, it has become something far more sinister – as the body count rises, the victims are all killed by blows to the head and then left dressed in white tunics with crowns of candles on their heads. The story of St Lucia becomes a powerful metaphor for the long held dark secrets and shocking revelations which are finally brought into the light. The title of this book couldn't be more fitting – it's the scars of silence which hold the key to the resulting layers of tragedy. This is a necessarily provocative read but it is never gratuitous and the eventual, awful truth is utterly devastating and horribly convincing.
David Warriner's exemplary translation captures both the rich, atmospheric sense of place which is so important to proceedings and Johana Gustawsson's exquisitely penetrating portrayal of loss and grief. I loved Yule Island, the brilliant first book in the Lidingö Mysteries series but this poignant, compelling mystery is perhaps even better. Scars of Silence is Scandi Noir at its absolute best; this is a shatteringly exceptional read and one I cannot recommend highly enough.
Scars of Silence is published by Orenda Books and can be ordered directly from their website. Further purchasing links can be found here.
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About the Author
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About the Translator
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