A Harmless Lie

January 24, 2022
At the start of Blaedel’s solid 10th novel to be published in the U.S. featuring Copenhagen police detective Louise Rick (after 2018’s The Midnight Witness), Louise is vacationing in Thailand when her father calls from Denmark to say her brother, Mikkel, is close to death after a suicide attempt, which may have been prompted by Mikkel’s wife, Trine, abruptly leaving him days earlier. Back in her hometown of Osten, Louise comes to realize Trine’s departure may not have been voluntary—and the police begin to suspect Mikkel was involved in Trine’s disappearance. Meanwhile, Louise learns that the body of Susan Dahlgaard, a schoolmate of Trine’s who vanished 25 years earlier at age 14, has been found in a remote cave. Journalist Camilla Lind, Louise’s best friend, uncovers multiple tragedies when she looks into Susan’s case. Louise and Camilla come across as a little too strident in a plot that holds few surprises, but Blaedel does a good job depicting abnormal psyches and, through harrowing flashbacks, the cliquish cruelty of adolescent girls. Scandinoir fans will be satisfied. Agent: Joakim Hansson, Nordin Agency

Starred review from February 1, 2022

Detective Louise Rick is on leave, on a beach in Thailand struggling with self-pity when she receives the call saying her brother Mikkel tried to take his own life. Louise flies home to Denmark to learn Mikkel's partner, Trine, left him for the second time, and he can't cope. When Trine disappears and Mikkel becomes the primary suspect, Louise must handle her own issues and work with the police. Her friend, journalist Camilla Lind, also deals with family problems while she investigates a cold case. More than two decades earlier, 14-year-old Susan Dahlgaard disappeared on a class trip. Now, her body has been found in a cave. Camilla hopes to interview three of Susan's classmates from that trip. One died by suicide just days earlier. One isn't home. The third is Trine. The police investigation into Trine's disappearance soon collides with the old stories told by teenage girls--and someone lied. VERDICT Five years after her last book in the series (The Lost Woman), Blaedel returns with a riveting story that combines a journalist's investigation of a cold case with the police search for a missing woman. It's tailor-made for Karin Slaughter's readers.--Lesa Holstine

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2022
Off-duty detective Louise Rick investigates a missing person case with a personal connection. Louise is in Thailand, on leave from her job as a detective in Copenhagen's Missing Persons department, when her father calls to inform her that her brother, Mikkel, has attempted suicide. Mikkel's wife, Trine, disappeared for the second time a few days earlier, and Mikkel has hit rock bottom. Louise is on the next plane back to Denmark, where she quickly discovers that there's more going on than a woman leaving her husband. The body of a long-missing girl named Susan has been found in Bornholm, where children from Louise's hometown of Osted travel yearly on school trips. In 1995, one of those children--Susan--never returned. As the body count piles up and more women go missing, Louise can't help but wonder if it has something to do with Trine's disappearance, as she was one of the girls to last see Susan alive in Bornholm. Straight on the heels of a breakup and feeling a bit lost and lethargic, Louise breaks out of her sleeping pill-induced stupor to help lead an unofficial investigation into finding her sister-in-law and figuring out what exactly happened on Trine's fateful school trip back in 1995. It's a fast, compelling book, but the ending feels a bit far-fetched, and one can't help wondering what's in the water in Denmark considering that every character's life seems to be in total chaos at the same time. Suicide attempts, teenage pregnancies, and breakups abound during the short time it takes to discover who's at fault for both current and past disappearances. You may have to take it with a grain of salt, but it's still a fun journey.

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February 1, 2022
Detective Louse Rick returns to Denmark from a journey abroad after learning that her brother, Mikkel, has attempted suicide. Mikkel's wife, Trine, has left him without warning, and he is inconsolable. When Trine's mother reports her missing, the local police suspect that Mikkel's devastation is evidence of foul play, forcing Louise to launch her own investigation. The first perplexing leads come from her close friend, Camilla Lind, a journalist digging into new developments in a girl's disappearance from a school trip years ago. Turns out, Trine was with the girl the night she disappeared, and another of the girls who were present has recently committed suicide. Mona, an emotionally disturbed intuit who claims the other girls are hiding secrets, is terrified but hasn't revealed the threat before she also attempts suicide. Louise and Camilla dig into what happened during the school trip, determined to break Mikkel, Trine, and Mona free from its grip. This installment in the Louise Rick series (following The Midnight Wiitness, 2018) offers an intense, atmospheric starting point for those who haven't yet discovered Denmark's favorite cop.

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