I tried very hard on this novel but the foreign names confused me to the point that I had to put the book down. I'm sure it's a great novel for someone who enjoys foreign names.

Such a well written book. I love a good criminal suspense book an this one was great!! It was definitely more of a slow burn but it was very interesting and kept me turning the pages to the end. I would definitely recommend this book!! The writing style was excellent and this is a book I won't soon forget.

Thank you to NetGalley and Christoffer Carlsson for the ARC in return for my honest review.

This is a Swedish crime thriller. It is such a wonderful whodunit. This kept me on my toes the whole book! It was absolutely gripping. 5 stars.
I just reviewed Under the Storm by Christoffer Carlsson. #UndertheStorm #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

A major fire in a rural farmhouse covers a murder in this riveting Swedish mystery by renowned Swedish criminologist Christoffer Carlsson. It's full of twists, and takes place over several decades with an entering resolution. I couldn't put it down and look for more from Carson.

I love Scandinavian mysteries. This was a slow burn of a book. Literary and a bit dense. I enjoyed this one and will definitely read this author again!

I don’t think I was in the right head space to enjoy this book (definitely in a book slump & forcing myself to read) I feel as if I read it at a different time I would have enjoyed it more. The beginning of the books had me pretty hooked with a house fire/murder. I enjoyed the multi-narratives and how the tragedy affected the small town.

3.5 ⭐️

I felt invested in the characters from the beginning and wanted to know more. The author pulled you into a child's world in a way that felt nostalgic and masterful. I kept confronting the stark contrast between how a child and an adult view the world in a way that allowed me to reflect on the emotional impact of childhood events and how they shape us as people. I'm interested in reading more from this author!

Mixed thoughts while reading Under the Storm by Christoffer Carlsson.

The premise had me intrigued from the start, a house fire, murder, an investigation, muti-narrative, and how it affects everyone in the small town, especially the two main characters. Under the Storm had me hooked. Unfortunately the first third is the best part and the rest was a slog to get through.

The jumping ahead about 10 years felt sudden and out of nowhere. One of the main narrators, Isak, goes through a total attitude change from the likeable 8 year old narrator we started with to a juvenile delinquent. Vidar, the main investigator, changes careers, but the case still haunts him, so he decides to investigate as a civilian. By this point in the novel I wanted to check out as a DNF. Instead I continued onward because I wanted to know who the murderer was and how they got caught.

Speaking of the murderer, the big reveal was a let down and major disappointment. It felt like Carlsson couldn't come up with a game plan on how he was going to lead up to it and felt like an add on at the last minute.

Ok, why did I give it 3 stars and not less? As I said I was hooked until it skipped ahead about 8-10 years. It is written fairly well with a great premise, which makes me want to give Carlsson's other novel a chance and I didn't completely dislike it.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

On a cold November night, a farmhouse burns to the ground. Inside a young woman is found dead To the people in the rural community of Marbäck, the fire becomes a reference point: a before and after. For ten-year-old Isak Nyqvist, it sets in motion something he cannot control, igniting his future into an inferno.

The police immediately focus their attention on Edvard Christensson, the boyfriend of the murdered woman and Isak’s beloved uncle. After a quick investigation, Edvard is found guilty and sentenced to life in prison and Marbäck believes it can return to its innocence. Vidar Jörgensson, the rookie officer who first responded to the fire, prides himself on helping solved the murder.

The author spins an interesting story. His expertise in criminality allows him to weave an intriguing murder mystery. Additionally, his characters are well developed and add to the story’s interest. I gave him four stars. Sometimes he would start a section from a different point of view, which confused me. Definitely worth the read.

When a farmhouse burns down during the night and a woman's body is found inside, dead before the fire started, the police focus on her boyfriend, Edvard. For 10 year old Isak, it is especially hard because it is his uncle who is very close to. As the town people shun the family because of Edvard, the local police officer Vidar Jorgansson doesn't fully believe that Edvard is guilty. Can he find out the truth before anyone else is killed?

This story has some of the same characters as the authors first book, which is nice to relate to.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in return for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for sending me an ARC of Under the Storm in exchange for an honest review.

In November of 1994, a farmhouse in Marbäck, Sweden burns to the ground. A woman, Lovisa, is found inside the ruins, but she had been killed before the fire started. Her boyfriend, Edvard, is soon arrested and convicted of the crime—in part because of evidence found by a young officer named Vidar, and in part because Edvard had always been a violent man just like his father. All of which is deeply upsetting to the one person who loved Edvard unconditionally, his ten-year-old nephew Isak. But over the next 23 years, Vidar questions whether Edvard really killed Lovisa, and Isak struggles against the feeling that he’s inherited something awful and violent from his mother’s father and brother.

Under the Storm is divided into thirds. The first covers the time of the original crime and investigation. The second is ten years later, in the moths leading up to when Hurricane Gudrun hit Sweden. And the final third is still thirteen years later, when we finally get the resolution to who killed Lovisa, and what happened to Vidar and Isak. Vidar’s story is largely a police procedural, but I’m not sure it’s very realistic that an officer would question himself a decade after his biggest arrest. And I know it’s not realistic that the same person would finally solve the mystery more than twenty years after the crime and after being off the force for a decade. As for Isak, he believes he’s going to be a bad, violent person because everyone expects him to be one because of his family, and then he lives down to everyone’s expectations and becomes a violent person. He needed therapy and to get the hell out of this town, and instead he became a shell of what he could have been. Isak’s story was mostly sad, all the more so because I’m sure it is realistic.

I didn’t hate Under the Storm, but I was underwhelmed. ‘Crime haunts the survivors’ isn’t exactly the freshest take. And I thought the book ended too abruptly. I wanted to see how people treated Vidar and Isak after the final revelations, and in particular how Isak viewed himself. Not a bad book, but it didn’t really work for me. 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3.

Under the Storm by Christoffer Carlsson is a quick read that packs a punch. Every twist is unforseen and has a good slow burn when it comes to the whodunit.
The story is set in Sweden, where there's a decimating fire in the community. A house fire that leaves a young woman dead and many questions and accusations. As we follow a boy from his childhood to manhood, we see how the horrific event has affected him through out his life and how his family's members reputation precedes and follows him around.
We also see the main characters life through other POV's through out the book.
Only took took off a star because of confusion in the change of POV. Sometimes it would take me a second to figure out whose POV I was reading. Maybe another reader might not have that problem, and it was just me!

Who can be trusted? Who is on your side? Digging up the past can be an iffy job, poking around and finding out things that have been laid to rest can bring you to finding out things you maybe did or didn't want to know. Family ties and crime!

A woman is murdered, her house is set on fire. A suspect is quickly found, and duly convicted.

More than 20 years later, two people’s lives are still disrupted: the police officer who first discovered the suspect in the woods near the burning house, and the suspect’s nephew, who worshipped his uncle and was devastated when the uncle was arrested.

This is an interesting read, and not a typical mystery novel. The murder investigation is closed within months of the crime. The story is really about the lives of the policeman and the nephew, about how they keep getting drawn back to the crime even as they try to put it behind them, about how they are both restricted and given strength by their ties to the place they were born and still live.

The policeman agonizes over the investigation, questions whether justice was done or other suspects were overlooked in rushing to convict a local from a “bad family.” This preoccupation disrupts both his career and his personal life. When he tries to put it behind him, his path crosses that of the nephew and he is drawn back in.

The nephew, just a young boy at the beginning of the story, at first is just shocked by his uncle’s arrest and conviction. Then he is angry that his uncle has ruined their relationship by being sent away, and never wants to see him again. The community is wary of the nephew, for his grandfather was known as a violent drunk, and now his son is a murderer. Can the nephew be trusted, or is he destined to be a violent criminal also? The nephew hopes he has risen above this legacy, but every time he gets angry he worries that he the community is right in being wary of him.

The loose ends are tied up at the end of the story. We and the characters know who has done what, and that they can go on with their lives. Something was lost in the 20-plus years it took to reach this certainty, but in the end it is time to move on with their lives

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. When a woman is found murdered, it will be up to Vidar to find out who did it. This case will take many twists and turns and will go in directions that Vidar did not see coming. I liked this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read and review this book.

Vidar is a policeman in a small town in Sweden, when he he sees a house in flames. When they find a body, the investigation begins. A suspect is found and convicted, destroying a family. However, lives are affected and changed. Years later, Vidar finds too many inconsistencies in the case, and he becomes obsessed.

I like Scandinavian mysteries, but I started losing interest along the way. Vidar eventually solves the case, but there were too many surprises for me.

A thriller written by a professor of criminology, yes please! You can tell the amount of knowledge that went into writing this book. Way to go!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review! | 2.5 stars, rounding up.

I have an explanation for my review here, and some of you might have different tastes that lead you to feel differently, so keep reading for my explanation.

In 1994, a farmhouse in Sweden is burned to the ground with a young woman inside. Autopsy reports show she had suffered head trauma, and a criminal investigation launches. The main suspect is her boyfriend, who is ultimately convicted, though he swears his innocence.

Under The Storm follows the next 17 years, focused on his nephew, whose life and perception of self are forever changed by his uncle's conviction, and the police officer who played a role and fears he may have taken a wrong turn at some point.

First of all, it's on me not realizing this book was written in Swedish and translated to English. I should have figured that out on my own, but rather I realized it about 50 pages in. While the writing is pretty good for not being in English from the jump, I definitely feel like it probably lost some of its integrity, that's just the nature of translated works. Also, there are a TON of Swedish names/places in here. Like, I was questioning if books in English have this many names and places and I just don't notice it -- I really struggled with this because I felt it broke up the flow of the story for me.

The plot was mostly one note for me. I found myself waiting for something big to happen, even though there wasn't a ton of dramatic build up, and when there was finally an interesting plot point it happened at 90% of the way through so that felt rushed and left me with some unanswered questions.

This was marketed on NetGalley as a mystery/thriller, but I'd say it's more of a crime/police procedural novel. Nothing wrong with that, but not the type of thriller trope I lean towards. If this is something you enjoy, you'd honestly probably find this a lot more interesting than I did. Like I said, writing is decent, but overall this just wasn't my cup of tea.

While the pace of this book was slow and calculated, it lends to developing a great mystery that spans over decades. A small town murder impacts so many people including a young boy and the detective who is assigned to the case. This book kept me engaged and guessing the entire time. I did feel a bit rushed in the end when it was suddenly wrapped up but maybe that was for the best.