cover image The Shadow in the Water

The Shadow in the Water

Inger Frimansson, , trans. from the Swedish by Laura A. Wideburg. . Pleasure Boat Studio/Caravel, $18 (300pp) ISBN 978-1-929355-44-0

In the disturbing second tale of revenge to feature tormented and twisted Justine Dalvik from Swedish author Frimansson (after Good Night My Darling ), Justine is still battling demons, both real and imagined, while living in her family home in Hässelby. The tall, forbidding manse was the last place married, mother-of-two Berit Assarson was seen alive. Seven years have passed since Berit’s disappearance, and her husband, Tor, and her best friend, Jill Kylén, are trying to move on with their lives. Both harbor lingering, foggy suspicions about Justine, just like young Micke, whose father, Nathan, vanished while traveling with Justine. In spare prose, Frimansson skillfully weaves themes of darkness and light, guilt and innocence, life and death. Not for the faint of heart, this bleak mystery will linger in readers’ minds long after the last page is turned. (May)