Review: The Guilty One - Book #1 Emma Tapper Series - Anna Karolina and Translated by Lisa Reinhardt - August 2022 While scrolling through my Kindle in search of my next read, I stumbled across a thriller that immediately pulled me in with its chilling premise. From the first page, I was thrust into a nightmare scenario involving twins, a deadly prophecy, and a family riddled with secrets. The story kicks off with twins Nicholas and Jasmine celebrating their thirtieth birthday — a milestone overshadowed by a dark warning from a psychic: one of them won’t live to see the end of the day. As the evening unfolds with a cocktail of drugs, alcohol, and reckless celebration at Jasmine’s house, the tension simmers beneath the surface. But what starts as a night of fun quickly turns into a tragedy. Nicholas wakes up the next morning in a daze, with a blank memory and blood on his hands — literally. His sister lies dead beside him, her throat slashed, and the knife is in his grasp. Panicked a...

Review: Hidden in Shadows - Book #2 Aremorden Series - Viveca Sten - October 2021 While scrolling through my Kindle, I stumbled upon Hidden in Shadows by Viveca Sten, a thriller set in Sweden. As a fan of Nordic crime fiction and authors like Camilla Läckberg and Jo Nesbø, I was eager to dive into this gripping tale. Viveca Sten delivers a captivating mix of murder, secrets, and forbidden love that kept me turning the pages late into the night. The story begins in 2020 with a shocking murder: Johan, a former Olympic skier turned plumber, is found dead on the side of the road, execution-style. This crime rocks the local community, as Johan was not just a skilled tradesman but also a beloved celebrity. Who would kill Johan, and what could possibly motivate such a brutal act? The police face immense pressure to solve the case as the narrative takes us back to 2012, unraveling a web of events that lead to Johan’s tragic death. In the 2012 timeline, we meet Rebecca, a young woman enteri...

Review: The Girl in the Photo - Book #2 Jensen Thriller - Heidi Amsinck - July 2022 This thriller drew me in with the title, the book starts with a handful of elderly murders. They all seem random except, for one thing, each crime scene has a photograph of a young girl. The same girl but different scenes. Meanwhile, Jensen is back living in Copenhagen and determined to make a career as a freelance journalist, even if it means running into Detective Henrik - someone who she had this weird relationship with. It felt like they had an affair but some moments felt like all he did was save her from a serial killer. As the book goes on, Henrik and Jensen both discover that the three victims came into money back in 1996. The identity of the girl is finally revealed and how each person played their part. I hadn't read a Nordic Noir for a while and so this was a refreshing read. The only downside was that it was a bit slow-paced and the ending frustrated me as I felt that we were let down w...