A well written thriller with a solid mystery, a page turner that once you're stuck into you can't put down.

I enjoyed this read although when I began I didn't realise that it was part of a series. I loved the setting. I love travel in general and after reading In Harm's Way I've now a very strong urge to want to visit Sweden. This was quite political and there was quite a bit going on, some of which didn't really fit with the main plot, but it held my interest throughout. The chapters were many, but short, which I like and the different plots drew together well in the end. I enjoyed this read and I would recommend it.

The sixth book in this series set on the beautiful but deadly island of Sandham, starts with a chilling murder (literally and figuratively) as a journalist is found dead in a snow bank.
Initially, it’s thought she lost her way in the dark, unable to find her way back to her hotel room. An autopsy, however, reveals she was poisoned, leading to a hunt for a murderer that may or may not be on Sandham.
Having read all the books in this series, there is a rhythm to them that I enjoy but which also means there is sometimes a sense of deja vu. Getting of the island, then, was a nice change, one I enjoyed.
What didn’t change was lead Detective Thomas’ friend Nora getting involved with the case, something which is getting harder for me to accept with each book I must admit. I really like Nora as a character and I have loved watching how she’s changed as a person since the first book. BUT getting her into the stories is starting to feel forced and somewhat jarring and I’m not convinced it adds to the plot.
Nora aside, the plot was interesting and outcome not one I was expecting. I really like Thomas, who is a gentle but dogged, and his team, who I’d like to see more of. And, given this is Scandinavian crime fiction, one of my favourite genres, it feeds my fascination with the country.
It all means that, while I enjoyed the book, I didn’t love it as much as I have some of the others. And, I hate to say it, but I am not sure I’ll continue onto book number seven.

First things first: This is the sixth book in the series, but can be read as a standalone. I have not read any of the previous five, but did not feel lost at all.

On to the book itself: this was a great book to snuggle up with during the cold, snowy days we’ve had recently here! It was a good mystery with plenty of interesting characters and subplots that made me want to check out the rest of the series.

The novel’s main mystery is what happened to Jeanne Thiels, an investigative journalist who suddenly drops dead outside her hotel on Christmas Eve. The team at the Nacka police station are fighting a lack of clues and their own personal demons as they work on solving Jeanne’s untimely demise.

I really liked that the novel didn’t start off with Jeanne’s death scene or with her already dead. It was really fascinating and it set the stage to follow her for a couple of chapters and see what was happening as she died. It set up the story really well.

Also, like I said, there were some great characters that I really liked and got invested in. Thomas, Aram, Nora, just to name a few. They were all a part of the story or the subplots and really made me care about what was going on with them. I will definitely be picking up the next in the series to see where they go from here, because there’s a couple of loose ends that will continue on in the series, I think.

The ending was pretty good - I didn’t guess it until it was quickly unfolding in the end. I think it tied up a lot of loose ends, though I wish it were more explained, I guess. Like there was some more background given about the “how,” I can’t say much more without giving spoilers.

Overall, a really solid mystery with a great setting.

A good mystery. I think I'd have appreciated it more if I'd read the first 5 books in the series.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author. All opinions are my own.

Diese Bücher machen süchtig! Neben der weiterführenden Geschichte um Thomas und Nora, gibt es wieder viel Spannung in den Schären. Macht definitiv Lust auf mehr und neugierieg auf weitere Abenteuer rund um das erfolgreiche Duo.

Jeanette Thiels, a famous journalist is found frozen to death and it becomes soon clear that her death was not from natural causes. Several of her articles and documentaries offended many people and she did not lack enemies. Was it a political enemy, an adversary of her journalistic exposure, or someone for her private life. The journey to find out about her death takes several twists and turns till the killer is found. It is a suspenseful write with several interesting and plausible leads and dead ends. The many names did confuse me a bit at the beginning but it is a good suspense thriller.

I absolutely love the Sandhamn Murder series so after finishing In the Heat of the Moment through Kindle Unlimited I could not wait for the next book to be released, luckily I was able to read it through Net Galley as I really needed to know what happened between Nora and Jonas .
With all that the drama surrounding the dead body of a world famous journalist this book grips from the first page

Well written thriller. The plot has many twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. The book was a bit long. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my digital arc. This is my unbiased review.

Viveca Sten gives us a fast paced thriller with this one! Even though there is a lot going on in this story, I felt that it was easy to keep up with it all. This is the sixth book in this series but this one can be read as a stand-alone.

Jeannette Thiels has escaped to Sandham when she is all the sudden threatened. It is Christmas Eve and not many places have openings. Upon arriving at the hotel that she has booked at the last minute, she realizes that she is not feeling well at all. Jeannette thinks that maybe her stomach is upset because she hasn't eaten. Jeannette decides to make her way to the restaurant, but will never make it there completely.

Thomas is assigned to the case of the mysterious woman found lying covered in snow. The first thing that Thomas has to find out is was Jeannette murdered or was she just a victim of the cold weather? Once he finds that out, he can move forward. What Thomas does find strange is that with Jeannette being a well known journalist, there is no computer in her room. Wouldn't she have a computer with her if she is a reporter? They all seem to live with their computers attached to them.

While Thomas is trying to figure out the mystery of Jeannette's death, we also get Nora's story. Nora was at Sandham with her boys for the holidays. While Nora is put in the middle of an ethical dilemma, these two friends share more than they realize with extreme right fringe movement, fear of immigration, and corporate corruption all going on in this story.

Viveca Sten will keep you guessing as to who or what happened to Jeannette. I thought I had it figured out and then something else would happen and I was all wrong. Very well done with this one.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Jeanette Thiels is a world-famous journalist and she spends her time traveling to all corners of the world researching on corruption. She suddenly gets a phonecall and rushes to Sandhamn island but feels unwell. Booking herself into a hotel, she feels worse, realises she seems to have lost her laptop somewhere and starts to panic. On her way to dinner, she heads out but the storm gets worse and she collapses. No one is there to help.....

That’s just the start of things. An investigation into her death is carried out and the net stretches wide, to neighbouring islands, Stockholm and all over. The police have a right job on their hands. Thomas the policeman goes from one island to another in the search for answers and this I found very interesting as the boat access to the islands and the choppy waters make for a very unique view on these communities and the secrets which may hide within.

I also loved the winter and Christmas setting. Lots of lovely mentions of Swedish Christmas treats such as Lucia and the church services, the snow blanketing everything ....but then comes the cold and the murder and you can feel it seeping through your own bones in the end as you read.

A major part of the book looks at the theme of immigration and the rise of the far right. There are far reaching consequences here and lots to consider about how things are today....all linked to one journalist’s death.As the net got tighter, the action and pace really ramped up.

I do enjoy these Swedish crime novels set in the archipelago. Some very relevant themes in this book (no spoilers here) and one medical related thread I found VERY interesting and unique

A 400 page book with 107 chapters! The choppy organization disrupted the flow of the novel, making it difficult to follow. A journalist is found dead Christmas eve. Suspicion falls to her "ex" who retains custody of their child, but other suspects and motives exist. The police immediately notice the lack of a computer in the journalist's hotel room, leading them to suspect murder even before the autopsy reveals it. While I like the setting, I did not get a strong feel for it. The police did not seem very developed. I'm sure it's because it is a later book in the series, and I read no earlier installments. I received an advance electronic copy through NetGalley with the expectation of an honest review.

Another fun to read mystery from the author. What I did not like was throwing in the major clue in the last five percent of the book. It made solving the mystery as I read the book impossible. Accordingly, I give it a four-star rating rather than five.

A respected journalist is found dead in the snow on Christmas. Was it a case of exposure to the elements, or was it murder? The police are forced to look at several possibilities, including her bitter ex, and sources related to a potentially explosive expose. A second plot involves Nora—the bank where she’s worked as an attorney for 10 years has just been acquired by a company whose ethics she questions. This well-written and expertly translated Nordic Noir novel is a real edge-of-your seat thriller.

On Christmas Eve, a woman is threatened and hastily flees to a hotel in Sandhamn. The day after Christmas, DI Thomas Andreasson is called to a crime scene when a women's body is found outside in the snow. The woman is well-known is Sweden so Thomas and his partner, Margit, are being pressured for a quick resolution. Their prime suspect seems to have an alibi and the more Thomas, Margit, and their colleague Aram work on the case, the more complicated and dangerous the investigation becomes.

"In Harm's Way" is the sixth book in the Sandhamn murder series and the third one I've read. I've enjoyed them all because of the Swedish setting and the mixture of police procedure and scenes with Thomas and his family and his friend Nora Linde. What is lacking in this book is the interaction I've come to enjoy between Thomas and Nora. Although Nora briefly assists Thomas with the case, they don't cross paths that much in the book. Nora is dealing with her boyfriend Jonah being away and the confusing feelings she is having for her ex-husband as well as dealing with a stressful situation in her role as a legal adviser for a band. Although these scenes are interesting, I wish there was more a connection with the main plot.

The murder investigation is interesting and I was completely surprised when the identity of the murderer is revealed. In spite of some serious and sad events in the book, it ends on a positive note. The author has already written additional books in this series, but they haven't yet been translated from Swedish to English. While I'm waiting, I plan to catch up on a couple of the prior books in the series that I've missed. I highly recommend this book (and the whole series) for fans of Camilla Lackberg.

I received this book from NetGalley through the courtesy of AmazonCrossing. The book was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.

I always love her books so I am biased. Great setting of the Swedish island, good character development of our main characters. I'm so glad that Nora never gets together with the detective who is her friend, you don't see many male-female relationships like that in books. The mystery was interesting and believable if not super original.

The latest translation of Viveca Sten's Sandham novels, In Harm's Way takes place during the Christmas-New Year's season.

The body of Jeannette Thiels is discovered on the Sandhamn beach, but did she freeze to death or was it murder?

Jeannette, a journalist with a reputation for courage and relentless investigations of war crimes and corruption, certainly had plenty of enemies.

DI Thomas Andreasson interviews Jeannette's ex-husband, their daughter Alice, and others when the autopsy reveals poison. I won't go into all of the suspects, but I had a difficult time deciding on the villain--suspecting one person after another.

Nora Lindstrom, spending Christmas on Sandhamn with her two boys also finds herself in an ethical dilemma. An attorney for a bank that has recently been taken over, Nora is happy that the new management has kept her on. When she questions the direction of some practices, however, she finds herself in an ethical dilemma, and the person she counted on for support reveals a side she did not expect.

Current events are in play for both Thomas and Nora: an extreme right fringe movement, fear of immigration, and corporate corruption are tangled up in various ways.

Recommended.

NetGalley/Amazon Crossing
Mystery/Crime. Oct. 16, 2018. Print length: 416 pages.

IN HARM'S WAY by Viveca Sten is a great suspense novel. I had never read any of Sten's novels before but I will be on the hunt to read more from this great author.

This is the sixth book in Viveca Sten's Sandhamm Murders series. I've read and enjoyed each of them, glad every time to return to this small community for a peek into the interconnected lives of Nora Linde and her friend Thomas Andreasson.

Sandhamm is an island off the Swedish coast. Both Nora and Thomas have deep roots there, and although they work in Stockholm, most of these stories are based on the island. This installment gets underway with the death on Sandhamm of one of Sweden's most famous journalists. Thomas, a police detective, is assigned the case. His first question is, was the woman murdered or merely the victim of severely cold weather?

Thomas's efforts to solve the mystery of the women's death are interspersed with Nora's story: There is an ethical dilemma with her work as an attorney for a major bank network. Both friends' lives are touched by global currents, with nationalism, anti-immigrant bias and financial skullduggery in play.

These books are not thrillers. While there is suspense in each of them, instead of seat-of-the-pants shock, they offer well-paced puzzles that are worked through patiently by characters who have good minds and good hearts.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC.

The English version of this book is titles "In Harm's Way." I don't want you thinking that I have suddenly learned to read Swedish. LOL.

I have missed a few books in this series along the way from #1 to #6 but I can assure you I will be going back and reading the rest. I love this series, I love the location, and I love the characters. The ending is another edge of your seat outcomes that I can't get enough of. Please give it a try and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Highly recommended!