A good crime novel is one that keeps you guessing throughout the entire story, constantly making you second guess your suspects while leading you down a winding path with an elusive destination. Eriksson's novel meets all of those requirements and more in his ninth novel following police inspector Ann Lindell. Everything about this novel is brilliant: from the vivid depictions of the landscape to the deeply complex and mysterious characters, along with the edge of your seat tension to the wider issues that are relevant in today's society. This is a story I thoroughly enjoyed reading and would recommend to lovers of crime.

Ann Lindell moves to an old village, seeking a quieter life now that she has retired from her position as a police inspector in Uppsala. When an old schoolhouse in the village goes up in flames, one that provided a sanctuary for asylum seekers, the police deem it the fault of arsonists. As more suspicious fires break out and the tension among the village folk ramp up, Ann becomes involved in the detective's efforts of finding those responsible to prevent something more threatening, more dangerous, from happening.

There is so much to be taken away from a crime novels, and I find some of the best ones offer more than gruesome killings meant to inspire deep and troubling emotions within the readers. They also get down to the nitty gritty details of what makes people tick. What leads someone down a dark and twisted path of multiple murders or mass killings? Eriksson's efforts to dive deep and consider this kind of thinking is what made this novel go above and beyond for me. Not only was "The Night of the Fire" a wonderfully fantastic take on crime and the thrilling adventure of uncovering who's responsible and their motives, but there was real, underlying tension between the characters in the village that brought a whole other level of realism to the story.

Ann Lindell's character is one of the most intriguingly beautiful characters to uncover. Everything about her is a puzzle to uncover, expecially her drastic career choice from police inspector to dairy worker, along with her determination to solve cases like a complex puzzle. She's inquisitive, fiery, passionate, and someone readers are sure to be drawn to like moths to light. In full honesty, I wasn't aware Eriksson had created an entire series around this character until I read this novel, which I am so thankful for. Any novel with Ann Lindell is bound to be a chaotic and fascinating journey.

I did find the English translation of the novel to be a little clunky at times in its wording, which took away from the easy flow of reading. Otherwise, I had no issues.

As someone who immensely enjoys and admires Swedish crime novels, I was thrilled to read "The Night of the Fire" by Kjell Eriksson. A big thank you to netgalley and At. Martin's Press for providing me with the opportunity to read an e-arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I will start with the confession I was not familiar with the Ann Lindell Mystery series by Kjell Eriksson. As a result, I did not know what to expect from The Night of the Fire. I was pleased to discover a fine work by another wonderful Swedish writer. The subject matter is certainly topical for our times and, based upon what I've seen in Scandinavian television series. issues many countries have faced. Lindell is a fascinating character and this book left me wanting to learn more of her story from the previous mysteries. I think readers who are already familiar with the cast of characters have an advantage over those like me.

Scandinavian mystery is one of my preferred genre, so was eager to review this one. A little different than my usual, I wouldn't call if fast-paced, or a page-turner - I will call it addictive! The cast of interesting characters draws you in so that you need to keep reading to see what will happen next, what interaction will show up, what new information will surface. Definitely an interesting read if you like interesting character development and a slowly building story.

I love Icelandic/Nordic crime thrillers. Jo Nesbo is one of my favorites, but I've also read a few new authors this year who I can't wait to see more from. So I was really excited to be approved for The Night of the Fire and quickly dove in.

Ann Lindell retired from her position as a police inspector in Uppsala for a quieter life as a farmer/cheese maker when a fire breaks out in an old village schoolhouse that is now used for asylum seekers. They assume arson, and Ann finds herself becoming more involved in the investigation as the stakes become higher and more personal.

So, I liked this book. In full disclosure, I didn't realize this was the ninth in a series. I've read one other Lindell title and I'm not sure how I missed the others, but I would definitely go back and read those because I love her character. That's not to say you need her entire back story to understand what's happening here. Eriksson did a wonderful job alluding to enough of her history and filling in the blanks as this current story unfolded. You know there's more to her, but you don't need it to understand the plot.

And there's a lot to admire about the plot. Eriksson delves into some serious issues such as racism and nationalism and what happens in times of transition. Considering our current environment, these topics are extremely relevant and intriguing.

The translation, however, was clunky and took me out of the story too much. I had trouble following the intricacies of the dialogue and oftentimes didn't understand the turns of speech or train of thought. Ann's thoughts wander from the task at hand to random events that made her seem quirkier than I think she was supposed to. This led to some pretty dense, confusing paragraphs, and for that reason, I couldn't get into this story as much as I wanted.

Overall, The Night of the Fire has an intriguing premise and likable characters, but you might need to put in some extra effort to become engrossed in the dense translation.

Thank you to Minotaur and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for honest review consideration.

Eighth in the Anna Lindell series. A shelter for asylum seekers is set on fire in a small Swedish town outside Uppsala, killing three of its residents; then a cabin in the woods belonging to a wealthy local farmer  is set alight and a woman's body is found inside. Anna Lindell has left the police force to work as a cheese maker and is just beginning to get a handle on the local residents; she's able to help the Uppsala detective - an old friend - as he hits dead ends in a way that seems quite plausible. The protagonists' relationships take up some space (the detective's marriage is falling apart, Anna Lindell has a long-term relationship ; hwith someone who seems completely useless) and the author's style is a bit rambly and oblique (sadly the translation doesn't help) but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I should go back and read earlier books in this series.