The Blood Spilt [Hardcover]

Asa Larsson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 30, 2007

It’s midsummer in Sweden—when the light lingers through dawn and a long, isolating winter finally comes to an end. In this magical time, a brutal killer has chosen to strike. A female priest—who made enemies and acolytes in equal number—has been found hanging in her church. And a big-city lawyer quite acquainted with death enters the scene as police and parishioners try to pick up the pieces....

Not long ago, attorney Rebecka Martinsson had to kill three men in order to stop an eerily similar murder spree—one that also involved a priest. Now she is back in Kiruna, the region of her birth, while a determined policewoman gnaws on the case and people who loved or loathed the victim mourn or revel in her demise. The further Rebecka is drawn into the mystery—a mystery that will soon take another victim—the more the dead woman’s world clutches her: a world of hurt and healing, sin and sexuality, and, above all, of sacrifice.

In prose that is both lyrical and visceral, Åsa Larsson has crafted a novel of pure entertainment, a taut, atmospheric mystery that will hold you in thrall until the last, unforgettable page is turned

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Larsson's second novel (after 2006's Sun Storm) takes a riveting look at religious mania, the practice of law in Sweden and crimes as dark and bloody as those in supposedly less progressive countries. Rebecka Martinsson, a tax attorney (as Larsson was before she turned to full-time writing) in Stockholm, had to perform some seriously bloody deeds in the town of Kiruna (Larsson's own birthplace) at the end of Sun Storm. Now she's back at work after some time to recover, and her large law firm is even using her hard-won notoriety for its own publicity. But when a female priest is savagely murdered in Kiruna, Rebecka interrupts her rehab to return there, to help solve a crime much like the one that caused her so much damage. Luckily, she also gets to work again with a sharp and sympathetic local female police inspector, who proves that not every Scandinavian cop or crime solver is a depressive. Fans of Henning Mankell, Karin Fossum and Arnaldur Indridason will be rewarded. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Larsson's chilling American debut, Sun Storm(2006), won Sweden's Best First Crime Novel award in 2003. In it, she introduced readers to Rebecka Martinsson, a Stockholm tax attorney who kills three men to stop a bizarre homicidal spree. (The trouble began with the slaying of a church founder in Rebecka's native Kiruna, the northernmost city in Sweden). Two years later, just as Rebecka is finding some semblance of sanity in her life, a case brings her back to Kiruna, where another member of the clergy has been murdered. (The victim this time is Mildred Nilsson, an outspoken feminist priest who had as many enemies as friends.) Rebecka soon renews her acquaintance with shrewd but kindly policewoman Anna-Maria Mella and meets a host of townspeople who run the gamut from suspicious to serene. Rebecka's return to her hometown prompts memories of her childhood, which keep her grounded as she plunges deeper into the case. Larsson, who was born and raised in Kiruna, delivers plenty of suspense, but her real gift lies in her ability to climb inside the minds of her characters, analyzing their motivations for doing damage and good. She vividly evokes midsummer in rural Sweden, where endless daylight is no deterrent to dark deeds. Allison Block
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Press; Tra edition (January 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385339828
• ISBN-13: 978-0385339827
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,232,848 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars north country, January 14, 2009

By 

time traveler (McLean VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Blood Spilt (Paperback)

Curiosity about its northern Swedish setting might drive the American mystery-fan to follow this woman-centered crime series. If there is a North American analog to the setting such might be Canada, where folk from a difficult rural north have tended to migrate away to the few more sophisticated southern cities. The lead characters: Rebecka, Stockholm lawyer returned-for-a-while to her northern birthplace, and a local woman-man police team. Though the story is female-centered, the action is plenty brutal. The environment is as rough as you like. The book's weakness is too much focus on returnee Rebecka's re-awakened conflicts around having deserted her roots. It's really the local police pair who identify and seize the murderer. Your decision to continue or not reading this series might depend on how long its off-beat environment still intrigues you.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A taut and brooding thriller, October 18, 2008

By 

D. Rail "music nut, history buff" (Port Richey, FL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Blood Spilt (Paperback)

This novel takes place Kiruna, in northern Sweden. A woman priest is found murdered, and it seems as though she had few friends. An attorney winds up involved in the case along, with a female inspector. The story makes some dark flashbacks as we see that the spirit of despair lurks in more than one character's life. Infighting among the town residents, church politics, and the puzzle of who could be the criminal, all compel the reader through this tautly paced book. Although it has some weak spots, overall I enjoyed it. (This review is based on the audio book.)

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "thriller" for those who like rich detail & great characters, August 23, 2007

By 

Wehrly (Redmond, WA, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Blood Spilt (Hardcover)

The reviews aren't really doing this book justice--although as an ex-lawyer my connection to the main character's mixed feelings about her job and colleagues might have swayed me a bit. Larsson deserves enthusiastic praise for the naturalness of the writing, plenty of detail about the characters' thoughts and dilemmas, and the well-described settings. She also is very skilled at making almost every character appealing in some way, despite major flaws, bad judgment, or mental disorder--all that, and still nothing seemed overdone, sentimentalized, or "romancey". The limited amount of police procedure and forensic chops is really not a problem--the book is still engrossing and entertaining. Can't wait for the next...where is it?

Oh, and the wolf Yellow Legs--hope she appears again, too! A neat element of the story brought to life.