Lifetime

Things aren’t going so well for Annika Bengtzon in Marklund’s superlative seventh novel featuring the tenacious Stockholm crime reporter (after 2012’s Last Will). For starters, Annika’s house burns down, and her husband leaves her for another woman. Meanwhile, she has to investigate the brutal murder of Supt. David Lindholm, “Sweden’s most well-known and respected detective.” David’s traumatized wife, Julia, is the primary suspect in his death and the possible kidnapping of their young son. Annika discovers that David, the model policeman, hid a darker side and may have been involved in illegal activities that led to his murder. Annika’s race against time to uncover the truth and exonerate Julia is intensified by multiple roadblocks, including governmental red tape and the ever-changing infrastructure at her newspaper, the Evening Post. Marklund has created a complex page-turner, complete with gritty realism, a flawed but likable protagonist, and nonstop suspense. Agent: Niclas Salomonsson, Salomonsson Agency (Sweden). (Apr.)