The author of this excellent series stopped writing for quite a few years (8, I think) so I was glad to see he has resume his Ann Lindell series.

As the series continues Ann Lindell has left the Uppsala police force for retirement in the country, where she is enjoying retirement (she has taken up making cheese). When a old local former school building is set on fire and three people die, Anne can’t help but get involved (although to her credit, she mostly lets her colleagues investigate). While this is being investigated a bomb explodes in Stockholm….

I’ve enjoyed this excellent series over the years. The character of Anne is complex and more realistic that many females in crime novels. She is present in this book but doesn’t dominate (she is retired after all). The crime story intensifies about a third of the way in, is more complex, and I admit I had trouble following some of it. Still, despite my difficulties, I thought this a very good, diverting read. ( )

I don't often abandon books, particularly for a book group, but I struggled for close to 100 pages and had to give it up. The premise was interesting, and so were many of the characters. But it must be the translation. Indecipherable sentences, head-scratching choices of words and odd colloquialisms. I persevered by re-reading some of the more opaque passages, but to little success. So many turns of phrase that stopped me in my reading tracks. Anyway, this translator has apparently translated all of Eriksson's books, so I don't think I'll seek out any more in the series. ( )

Maybe I wasn't in the mood, but I found the book to be plodding and the translation difficult to read continuously. ( )

Who started the fire that killed three people?

Someone knows but isn’t telling. Then there is another fire.

​​Ann Lindell a retired policewoman who moved to the country for some peace and quiet finds out that it isn’t all that peaceful in the country.

Even though she isn’t a policewoman any longer, she feels compelled to look into the investigation. ​​What’s funny is that someone who didn’t identify himself called her at the police station and asked for her after the first fire.​​

The investigation moves on and one of the suspects is found dead after a second fire. With that lead being gone now, their investigation starts again and down a different route.​​

I really liked Ann even though Sammy took up most of the book’s investigation time.

THE NIGHT OF THE FIRE was a different read and a bit slow for me because of the setting and the names of the characters, but it was interesting.​​

I did like the mystery and the unraveling of it, but not sure I would read another in this series.

I may have been a bit lost since it was the first one I read in the series, but I did like most of the characters, and the writing is well done.​​

Thank you to St. Martin’s for giving me a chance to get to know these characters. 3.5/5

​​This book was given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.​ ( )

I was determined to finish the book. With terrorism and hatred of immigrants enmeshed in the storyline, it should have been a book challenging to put down, but it was not. I have thought several days about why I found it a difficult book to finish. There are several reasons. The storyline felt disjointed. I understand that in a series, the author does not want to spend much time on backstory. The successful author can incorporate enough information into the writing to make readers feel empathy toward the main characters, but I could not connect with anyone. As an American reader, I got confused by the Swedish names, to my ear and eye they were so similar that I kept getting mixed up. Geography also seemed to be important in the storyline, and perhaps having a map of Sweden would have helped me make sense of what was going on. ( )