One of my most anticipated thrillers of the year! Let me tell you, it does not disappoint!

Eleanor has faceblindness a medical issue that makes her not recognize faces, even her own. When she walks in on her grandmother’s murder, she “sees” the person. Four months later, Eleanor, her boyfriend Sebastian, her Aunt Veronika, and a lawyer find themselves at a country mansion Eleanor didn’t even know about. Paranoid and terrified, Eleanor begins to realize the place is not what it seems. Through the duel narration of a house maid, we are transported to the 1960s where a mystery unfolds.

Terrifying, suspenseful, and page turning, you will not want to stop reading this book until you have uncovered every secret and lie. Trust me, I read the entire book in one day.

*thank you to netgalley and stmartinspress for the ARC

Book Review

The Resting Place by Camilla Sten
@WednesdaySten
Pub date: March 29, 2022
Psychological Thriller
4 stars

“An eye for an eye makes the world blind”

Camilla Sten became an auto-read author for me after I read The Lost Village which hit my top 5 last year. When I received The Resting Place in the mail, well, let’s say I was pretty excited! She has a way with creating atmosphere, setting a tense foreboding mood that is just catnip to my little kitty soul.
This is the second book I’ve read about Prosopagnosia, face blindness, and it’s an affliction I knew nothing about prior. In The Resting Place, Eleanor, the main character, suffers from this so when she arrives shortly after her grandmothers’ murder while the killer is still present, they leave her alive and unharmed. Afterall, she is unable to identify the culprit. Does the murderer know her? And if they do, are they comfortable with the knowledge that she can’t identify them?

There are two narrators, Eleanor in the present and from the diary of servant Anushka in the past, giving a unique perspective to the story but at the heart of the story is an old manor house, Solhoga – holding as many secrets as it’s occupants. It is long since deserted and is now inherited by Eleanor.

Meeting her lawyer at Solhoga, Eleanor, her boyfriend and her aunt are soon besieged by strange occurrences which only accelerate during a freak snowstorm that leaves Eleanor and company snowed in and with no way to contact the outside world. Soon it becomes clear, there’s a predator at large, one that wants all of them dead.

Tense, suspenseful and twisty as hell, this well-plotted thriller will be highly recommended by me! My thanks to @Minotaur_Books for this gifted copy.

This book was such a good creepy read, I love stories set in snowstorms/blizzards and this one was perfect!! So many lies and secrets in this one set in the woods in a old creepy house. I knew that all those secrets would tie together but it was so shocking ad nap good. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. I loved The Lost Village and this one also, will definetly keep her on my reading list!!!

On Eleanor’s weekly visit to see her grandmother, Vivianne, a silent shadow answers the door and wordlessly slinks away. Upon entering the home she comes across a body tumbled on the ground, a familiar scent turning coppery with blood, and the infamous coif that she knows so well. Vivianne. Life trickling out of her, and a whisper on her lips.

Eleanor came face to face with the murderer, the stranger at the door, but she didn’t really see them. She suffers from prosopagnosia, face blindness, and the encounter with the killer is all blurred contours.

Still reeling from this tragedy, Eleanor is told about a surprise inheritance: Solhoga, a large family estate that she didn’t know existed, an hour and a half outside Stockholm. Visiting it, with the purpose of inventorying it for sale, Eleanor finds a journal in a loose floorboards of a servants bedroom.

Anushka’s writings hint at a scandal that happened at Solhoga decades before. A secret worth killing for.

The dual timelines worked really well through the use of journal entries. I thought the mystery unfolded in a clever way, and it had some great twists. While an unreliable narrator can be a tired trope, it was very well done through the prosopagnosia thread.

Thank you to Minotaur Books for a galley of this title.

Many thanks to Minotaur Books and Camilla Sten for sending me a paperback ARC of The Resting Place. This is my honest, unbiased review.

Eleanor suffers from prosopagnosia, also known as "face blindness," a medical condition that inhibits her from remembering faces, even the faces of those closest to her. With the help of her therapist, Eleanor has learned to memorize "markers," like hairstyles, bone structure, or beauty marks. Without these markers, Eleanor sees everyone as a stranger, including her family and long-time boyfriend.

When Eleanor walks in on her grandmother's murder, she comes face to face with the killer. Choosing to stay with her ailing grandmother instead of pursuing the assailant, the killer gets away, and every day, Eleanor fears she may again come face to face with the murderer--except she won't even recognize them.

Still dealing with the devastating effects of watching her grandmother die and letting the murderer walk free, Eleanor is informed that her grandmother willed her a looming estate in the Swedish countryside. Eleanor, along with her boyfriend Sebastian, alcoholic aunt Veronika, and probate lawyer Rickard, travels to the estate to uncover the secrets behind this secret mansion--the place that has seen far too many tragedies. Unfortunately, the group quickly learns that some secrets should remain buried.

The Resting Place is a milestone book for me. It's my first Nordic Noir novel, and my first book by Camilla Sten. It's also the book that helped me through my longest "reading funk." I read this in a 24-hour span, unable to put it down except for sleep. Even then, I dreamed about it. Sten has the wonderful ability to write truly immersive, atmospheric, and chilling settings. The manor was claustrophobic, dark, and dank in the best ways, making for an excellent "locked in" mystery setting. Her characters are written so raw and real, I can picture them before me. She uses themes like identity, childhood trauma, PTSD, and PPD, and she writes them in a way that makes them relatable to anyone--even if you haven't gone through these experiences yourself. The Resting Place is truly the definition of an unputdownable story.

Told in a faster pace than typical Scandinavian crime fiction, The Resting Place is the perfect book for readers interested in dipping their toes into the Nordic Noir genre. I highly recommend this one!

I totally couldn’t get into this book. I kept trying to stay interested in this story line, but it just flopped for me. This book was a no go for me.

This page turner hooked me from the beginning. I love unreliable characters and this MC made me want to hug her and shake her at the same time. Seeing your grandmother's murderer and not being able to identify her! Ugh. Horrible. A family with more secrets than I can even count, this book had me going until the last bit. Wow. Awesome read. 5 stars.

I was so excited to get approved for this arc after reading The Lost Village last year! This one is just as creepy, thrilling and full of surprises. I loved the gothic feel and story. She is becoming an auto buy author for me!

Book Review
The Resting Place by Camilla Sten

Thanks St Martins and Minotaur books for my gifted copy in return for an honest review

Victoria/Eleanor
Annika/Annushka
Sebastian
Veronika
Vivianne

Thoughts……This dark family drama/suspense offers an Unexpected twist at the end. I did not see it coming…. I don’t want to give any spoilers but- WHOA

Writing style - you would never know this is a translated Book- Sten is adept at creating ambience with her descriptions of the landscape and settings. I could feel the weight of snow and suspense- the hushed air- the icy breaths. Gave me chills while I read!!

Its all in the Details- The uncommon medical disorder Victoria suffers from , her inability to recognize faces, lended itself to the story- Eleanor was in constant doubt of what of she or interpreted, as were her family. How do you trust someone who cant recognize you?

Overall a fabulous read!!
Definitely recommend!!

The Resting place
Camilla Sten
I found this book to be very different than what I am used to reading. It kept going back from past to present to help explain better. I really enjoyed this book the very different!
The back and forth really helped explain.it better l-

The Resting Place is the latest thriller from Camilla Sten. It mostly takes place in Solhoga, which is a secret mansion tucked away in the secluded woods of Sweden. What is most fascinating about the protagonist, Eleanor, is her prosopragnosia or face blindness. She is unable to recognize the faces of people, even people she is close to. This is where Sten shines: in lieu of recognizing someone based on what you can see: Sten uses other sense memories vividly: smell, mannerisms, and sounds.

Because of Eleanor’s inability to recognize people, when she witnesses the murder of her grandmother, she is unable to give proper testimony. It is after her Grandmother’s death that Eleanor learns of Solhoga. She, along with her boyfriend, aunt, and probate attorney travel to Solhoga to take into account what it is worth. While there, Eleanor keeps “seeing” someone watching her. Eleanor is unclear if it is her recent trauma making her see things, or if someone is actually following her.

The Resting Place is told from two different point of views and times: from Eleanor’s present day perspective, as well as, through letters written by Annika who was her Grandmother’s cousin and maid many years ago. The story is easy to follow, even when it jumps between the two.

The best part of The Resting Place is how Eleanor copes with her face-blindness. Sten is able to amp up the tension, as well as, cast doubt into the reader’s head when Eleanor witnesses strange things in Solhoga. There are a couple of twists, however, it was easy to figure some of them out prior to the reveal. It didn’t really take anything away from the story, because Sten’s pacing kept the tension high. While not necessarily scary, The Resting Place is still filled with enough suspense to keep the reader interested.

3* I enjoyed this book on the whole, but the ending felt a little rushed/far-fetched. I loved the atmosphere and suspense in The Lost Village, but this did not quite live up to that. I never felt that delicious sense of anxiety that the best suspense stories evoke.

I enjoyed this book. The prose was well-written, and the characters were dynamic and jumped off the page. I thought the story was interesting and the plot kept me guessing.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and Camilla Sten for the advance readers edition in return for an honest review.

The plot had a few twists that were unexpected and the ending was very satisfying. I loved the dual timelines and multi-POVs in this book. The creepy atmosphere makes this book very claustrophobic. I would recommend this book if you enjoy atmospheric thrillers.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: March 29, 2022

I had a difficult time getting into this book (I blame this partially on so many names starting with V) and even though the premise was intriguing and I really wanted to know how things planned out, it was a painfully slow and verbose journey to get there.

This definitely picks up in the second half of the book but has some frustrating moments akin to horror movies where the actors run upstairs after the killer is already in the house.

Here’s the sharp aspect of Camilla Sten’s books: atmosphere. She sets the stage of her story in a location we mystery readers would love to find and investigate. “The Lost Village” was something any curious thrill-seeker would have loved to snoop around in, and her new book, “The Resting Place”, takes us to the Swedish woods. A beautiful old manor has been meticulously kept for years, vacant, silent, dark, and lonely except for the one groundskeeper, Max, who has been here all along.
Our protagonist, Eleanor, witnesses her dear grandmother’s murder, but can’t describe the murderer due to her condition of face blindness. Still reeling from the shock and fearing for her own safety, she is informed that her grandmother has willed an estate to her, an estate Eleanor had no idea even existed.
So here’s where the climate and mood of the book are created: Eleanor and her boyfriend, along with the estate attorney, arrive at the desolate manor just as an angry snowstorm is blowing in. They meet Eleanor’s aunt, who decided to invite herself along, in the driveway. Max, the groundskeeper, has prepared the property for their arrival but is nowhere to be found.
As the evening sets in, the storm is blindingly fierce, and things begin to go bump in the night. Moving at a fast pace, the reluctant tenants try to figure out what’s going to happen; locating hidden diaries, being blindly attacked, hearing voices, and raiding the wine cellar all come together for one heck of a thriller weekend!
Sincere thanks to St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The publishing date is March 29, 2022.

A spine tingling, tense, slow burning thriller from one of the genre’s best!

A domestic noir set in Sweden, The Resting Place is complete with a creepy old manor, people acting shady and hiding some stuff (oh boy did they ever!) and the tightly drawn out tension that will set readers teeth on edge!

3.5 stars - This one definitely gives you the creepy, spine-tingly, atmospheric vibes. Very gothic and dark and literally chilling. You are skillfully taken to a place with the writing and this author definitely can make you feel as if you are there. This is a dual timeline story - and you almost forget it's just told in 1965 and current times. The backstory feels like it should be much older. I enjoyed it well enough, it just wasn't my kind of story.

So, in this book, Eleanor discovers her grandma being murdered. But she straight up can't recognize the killer, because she doesn't recognize people by face. Interesting. Then she's left a big mansion she never heard of. Even more interesting. The visit there is creepy, and the weather is bad, and people's intentions are unclear. There was a twist I didn't see coming and some chapters were from the past, in the maid's point of view. I hoped for a bit more paranormal or scariness, but it was still a good read.

Wow, this book was a wild ride that I never wanted to end! The setting was very creepy and Eleanor's face blindness further increased the tension. Nothing good can come from being in an isolated location during a blizzard. The twists kept coming which made this even more of a thrilling read! Very well done!