Born into a life of privilege, Sybilla has spent many years opting instead to live on the streets of Stockholm, cadging a bed, a bath, a meal, where she can. Her favorite technique?one she permits herself only as a special treat?plays out at the Grand Hotel, where with luck she can usually charm a lonely visiting businessman into buying her dinner and a room for the night. But then she picks the wrong businessman. When his dead body is found the next morning, Sybilla becomes the prime suspect. For years, her anonymity has sheltered her; she has found a kind of home in the invisibility of homeless life. But with her anonymity shattered, Sybilla is forced into the one course of action that might allow her to go home again.
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From Booklist
*Starred Review* Sybilla may have been born to wealthy parents, but her home life was never easy, and she ran away at 17. Ever since, Sybilla has been homeless and living off the grid. Her peaceful existence comes to a sudden end when she is accused of murder and goes on the run, too scared to go to the police and clear herself but frantic to regain her carefully built life. Both a mystery (Who is really doing the murders?) and a psychological study (Why did Sybilla run from her family?), Missing heralds the arrival in the U.S. of another outstanding Scandinavian crime writer. Winner of the Glass Key Award in Sweden, this is a taut, riveting, and impossible-to-put-down story of a young woman caught up in a bad situation. Recommend to readers who enjoyed Petra Hammesfahr’s The Sinner (2007), for the similarly tormented female main character, and fans of Asa Larsson’s Rebecca Martinsson series (Blood Split, 2007), for a Swedish woman who must solve a crime that requires facing her painful past. Highly recommended for all crime-fiction collections. --Jessica Moyer
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Review
'Alvtegen powerfully evokes Sibylla's sense of persecution and conveys what it means to live as an outsider, without ever compromising this compulsive thriller.' Metro
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
41 of 44 people found the following review helpful
By Linda Oskam
Format:Paperback
Sibylla Forstenström is the daughter of a rich but insensitive merchant and his wife. After a depression and an unwanted pregnancy she flees as an 18 year old girl from her family and the institution where she is kept. She starts to live as a homeless person and is capable of taking rather good care of herself for 15 years. But then things go wrong: she is wrongly accused of murdering a businessman and while she hides from the police three other murders follow. In the end she is capable of unravelling the true cause of these murders with the help of 15 year old Patrik, who she meets when hiding in the attic of a secondary school.
This was a very entertaining introduction to the work of yet another excellent Swedish author of thrillers. Definitely worth a read.
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Missing is the story of Sibylla Forenström, a 32-year old drifter on the streets of Stockholm. Dressed in her best thrift-store suit, Sibylla cons a wealthy businessman into buying her dinner and a hotel room in a fancy hotel. When the police arrive the next morning she assumes the con has been exposed and flees. But the man has been brutally murdered, and the police identify Sibylla's fingerprints and charge her with the crime, revealing that she disappeared from a mental institution 15 years earlier. Two other murders follow, and Sibylla, whose survival on the streets depends on her anonymity, finds she is now the most wanted criminal in Sweden with her face on every newspaper. A fortuitous encounter with a 15-year-old loner with computer talents provides Sibylla with an ally who is eager to help her track down the real serial killer. Throughout the book, Sibylla's past is slowly revealed, adding depth to this well-written thriller. Originally published in Sweden in 2000, Missing came out in the US in 2008 and is a finalist for the 2009 Edgar Award for Best Mystery.
http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/A_Authors/Alvtegen_Karin.html
http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/A_Authors/Alvtegen_Karin.html
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Having just read Stieg Larsson I continued with my streak of Swedish-based mysteries with Karin Altvegen's "Missing", which has also been nominated for the 2009 Edgar Awards Best Novel.
The book is small and reads quickly almost like a novella (I can only wonder what may have omitted in translation). The story of a 32-year old willingly homeless woman named Sibylla who suddenly finds herself accused of being a serial killer is compelling.
The first half of the book jumps between present and past. In the present, Sibylla is on the run from the authorities who think she has committed several gruesome murders; in the past, a young Sibylla is tormented and mistreated by her Upper Class parents who force her to give up a baby conceived out of wedlock and eventually having her committed to an asylum. Upon getting out, she has avoided her rich family and chosen to live on the streets turning small cons in order to get by and find shelter.
Could Sibylla be responsible for these murders and are we reading about the thoughts of an insane killer? Or, is the murderer someone unsuspecting? The victims end up being part of a pattern that Sibylla and a 15-year old boy she befriends named Patrik, who helps her try to track the real killer.
Fast-paced and well plotted, I can see why Karin Alvtegen is called "Sweden's Queen Of Crime". Hope to read more from her!
The book is small and reads quickly almost like a novella (I can only wonder what may have omitted in translation). The story of a 32-year old willingly homeless woman named Sibylla who suddenly finds herself accused of being a serial killer is compelling.
The first half of the book jumps between present and past. In the present, Sibylla is on the run from the authorities who think she has committed several gruesome murders; in the past, a young Sibylla is tormented and mistreated by her Upper Class parents who force her to give up a baby conceived out of wedlock and eventually having her committed to an asylum. Upon getting out, she has avoided her rich family and chosen to live on the streets turning small cons in order to get by and find shelter.
Could Sibylla be responsible for these murders and are we reading about the thoughts of an insane killer? Or, is the murderer someone unsuspecting? The victims end up being part of a pattern that Sibylla and a 15-year old boy she befriends named Patrik, who helps her try to track the real killer.
Fast-paced and well plotted, I can see why Karin Alvtegen is called "Sweden's Queen Of Crime". Hope to read more from her!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Prretty Good Read
Attention level maintained throughout. A page turner. But overly focused without any significant social content. Good to read while waiting for a plane.M.B.A.
Published 2 months ago by J. M. Alger
2.0 out of 5 stars
Howzatt
Although I have enjoyed some of Karen,s books,this was not one of them.The main character is just plain annoying ,and you,d be hard pressed to feel any empathy for her. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Howzatt
5.0 out of 5 stars
Couldn't put the book down
Well written, gripping, credible, thoroughly enjoyable. The tension built up seamlessly so that at no stage were there slow, flat or disjointed episodes. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Mary Brydone Hall
3.0 out of 5 stars
No, It Did Not Just End Like That!
I really hated the abruptness of the ending. It was like Karin Alvtegen just stopped writing. I found that frustrating as I become so invested in the fate of the two main... Read more
Published 17 months ago by PoeDogRuns
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting read
What an interesting and different crime story! Who's missing? The only problem I had at first was the abrupt changes from past to present tense. Read more
Published on April 29, 2011 by Sara S. Pearce
4.0 out of 5 stars
A fascinating story
From the back cover:
Sibylla lives on the streets. She is a nobody. Then she finds herself thrust into the news headlines after a man who bought her dinner winds up dead. Read more
Sibylla lives on the streets. She is a nobody. Then she finds herself thrust into the news headlines after a man who bought her dinner winds up dead. Read more
Published on October 1, 2010 by mummazappa
5.0 out of 5 stars
Missing
If you liked the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, you will love this one. The heroine is a young homeless girl. How she survives in Sweden is amazing. Read more
Published on July 9, 2010 by Ginny Mapes
3.0 out of 5 stars
No identity, no defense
The complications of going off the 'grid': Sybillia is a homeless women whose entire life is anonymous and low key. Read more
Published on June 23, 2010 by Amy Henry
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fast-paced thriller from Sweden
For fifteen years Sibylla has chosen to live off the grid. As an occasional escape from her homelessness, she sometimes cons lonely businessmen she meets in hotel restaurants into... Read more
Published on January 25, 2010 by Elizabeth Ray
4.0 out of 5 stars
Strange... Very Strange!
Only 4 stars because there are times when there are depressing subjects, loneliness and sadness.
The heroine suffered a mentally abusive childhood and becomes an... Read more
The heroine suffered a mentally abusive childhood and becomes an... Read more
Published on January 2, 2010 by Richard
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