Sadly this one was not my favorite. I found it to be a bit slow. I do think the atmosphere was good, but overall I just wasn't engaged.

A Harmless Lie is a phenomenal thriller from start to finish. Filled to the brim with twists and a captivating plot, this one is sure to keep readers hooked. The characters are well-developed. The story is incredibly fast-paced. This is one not to be missed! Highly recommended! Be sure to check out A Harmless Lie today.

Always happy to be outsmarted by the author when reading a book like this. While I wondered at times about the multiple story lines they all came
Together at the end. Sometimes there was a hmmm a journalist can’t play this big a role in solving a case-but all in all an enjoyable read.

I had a hard time at the beginning keeping all the characters straight and struggled with all the Swedish towns, but it was a good psychological thriller.

A Harmless Lie is a twisty suspenseful thriller from Denmark’s Queen of Crime, Sara Blaedel. I found her detective, Louise Rick, to be a complex and appealing protagonist as she deals with crime and mystery that hits close to her personal life. Although this is the tenth novel in the series, A HARMLESS LIE is the first one I’ve read. I didn’t feel lost or feeling that I needed to read the other books in the series to follow along. Far from it, Sara does a great job of making this an excellent jumping in point and standalone even though it’s part of a long-running series.

I enjoyed reading a crime novel set internationally (Denmark). It’s fascinating reading about different policing cultures. But that didn’t distract from the story once it got going.

I now understand why Sara Blaedel is one of the most popular crime fiction writers in Denmark and Europe. She delivers a well-paced, taut crime thriller that will keep you turning pages late at night.

This is the 10th book in a series featuring Louise Rick, a detective with the Copenhagen police. I’ve read most of the installments in this collection and feel it is best to not view this one as a starting point or standalone.

Louise is on leave prior to taking a new position and vacationing in Thailand where she’s just been left behind as her son and her partner, Eik and his daughter, have gone on without her. Her future plans now on hold, Louise is more than wiling to rush home when she gets a call that her brother Mikkel has attempted suicide because his wife, Trine, had left him.

Once she arrives home in Osted, Louise learns that there is a lot more going on. Her brother is now a suspect in Trine’s disappearance. Meanwhile, the body of a young girl who vanished over 25 years ago while on a school trip has been found. At loose ends, Louise decides to help the police clear Mikkel’s name and figure out what happened to Trine. It becomes clear, however, that the recently unearthed body and Trine, along with her old schoolmates, might be connected.

This was an OK read but the plot really didn’t grab me and I wasn’t pulled along by any great suspense or gripping story. I like Louise as as character and also some of the others mentioned in the novel are familiar as well. I will definitely read the next book, but I hope there will be more substance to it and that Louise will get her personal and professional life back on track.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the e-book ARC to read and review.

*Thank you to Penguin Group Dutton, Sara Blaedel, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Previously published at https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/a-harmless-lie/

“Just because something isn’t a lie does not mean that it isn’t deceptive. A liar knows that he is a liar, but one who speaks mere portions of truth in order to deceive is a craftsman of destruction.”

― Criss Jami

Despite having not read the first 8 volumes of the Detective Louise Rick series by Sara Blaedel, it immediately immersed me in the story of Louise Rick. A Harmless Lie is written with the intention of Blaedel not assuming that everyone has read the entire series. I did not feel I was missing anything, but had the urge to go back and read the first eight books, as this book was that good.

Louise Rick is in Thailand, on sabbatical for several months before returning home to take a position as Head of Homicide in Copenhagen. She is with her fiancé, his daughter and her foster son, Jonas. Unexpectedly, her fiancé breaks up with her and they leave her alone on the island. When she gets a call to come back to Osted, as her brother has attempted suicide after his partner has left him for the second time. Louise returns to Osted, only to find a catatonic Mikkel and that he is being investigated for the disappearance of Trine, his partner.

Camilla, a journalist and Louise’s best friend, is researching a story about a decades-old disappearance of Susan Dahlgaard, a fourteen-year-old girl who disappeared during a field trip from Osted school. Susan’s body has just been found in a cave in Echo Valley, near where the class is staying. Despite Louise being on sabbatical, she becomes involved in the mystery of why Susan ended up in a cave on this field trip. She believes Susan’s disappearance has something to do with Trine’s disappearance. When other members of the same group that were with Susan on the field trip disappear also, Louise’s gut tells her they are all connected.

The author has a writing style that makes it easy to get caught up in the story. While there are many heavy themes, including suicide, kidnapping, insecticide (really!) and bullying, nothing is told in detail. Rather, the reader is outside the story looking in. I could feel the tension building as more women disappeared. Louise looks to Mona, an outcast at the time of Susan’s disappearance, and an eyewitness to certain events that happened after. All will definitely surprise the reader with the twists in this story. Rarely, I am at a loss as to who the culprit is, but I could not figure this one out. The ending was a surprise, and I did not see it coming.

3 for neutral. I didn’t know this was part of a series and would prefer reading it after reading the prior books! Will update when able to read all the books!

The body of a teenage girl who went missing years ago is found in cave and soon after one a woman who had been her friend disappears. When the women's husband is suspected, his sister (a detective on leave,) investigates. Readable but far-fetched story.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A group of girls on a school trip return home with one missing. The remaining three girls in the group and one of their classmates are forever changed. Lies are told, secrets are kept, and the ugly truth finally comes to light.

Thanks to NetGalley & Dutton for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first foray into Louise Rick, and it'll be my last, I'm afraid. I tried very hard to get into this story but it just didn't do it for me. I didn't like Louise as a character; she was unrelatable and kind of boring. Granted, I don't know her backstory; perhaps I would be more invested if I had started with the first book.

Louise returns from an extended leave traveling with her makeshift family of her boyfriend, his child, and her foster child after her BF makes clear he isn't interested in getting married. She leaves her foster son with him (whaaat? OK) and returns home, where her brother has attempted suicide after his wife, Trine, has left him for the second time.

After Louise starts digging around, it starts to seem like Trine didn't leave of her own volition, and other women who were schoolmates of hers have died unexpectedly. They were all peripherally involved when another classmate disappeared on an overnight class trip, and that classmates body has just been found.

The bones of the story are compelling, but the execution is not. Maybe it's a translation thing? I have read scads of Scandi Noir and rarely come away with this level of disinterest. I suspect that Sara Blaedel just isn't my cup of tea.

Thanks to Dutton and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this title before publication.

I've heard of Sara Blaedel, but A Harmless Lie was the first book of hers that I have read, and I loved it! Even though it's later in the Louise Rick series (which I did not know when I picked this up), I was able to fully immerse myself in the story and it read like a standalone. This is a book of small town secrets, cold cases combined with current missing persons and suicide cases. I loved reading about the Danish towns where Blaedel set this story, and I loved how all of the mysteries were resolved in the end - while some of the reveals I suspected, others were completely fresh to me. I am really interested now in reading the rest of this series and her other series. Thanks also to crimebythebook on Instagram for convincing me to try this author!

Women are disappearing. Strange coincidence or all related to a past incident. Solid mystery to add to any collection.

Adult Fiction. Detective Louise Rick is out of town when she gets the frantic call; her brother has just attempted suicide, and his wife is missing (again). Thank goodness her mother is taking care of their children! But when Louise begins exploring the "missing wife" situation, she worries that her brother may be arrested even though she knows he would never have hurt his wife.

It is a good story- lies, secrets changed people’s lives, no matter how they thought it was harmless at the time. Teenage friendships, relationships are complicated. Revealing the truth is painful. The story is well written.

I believe this is the tenth book in this series featuring Detective LouiseRick, but my first. Once I waded through the reprisal of where the character is in the storyline, the narrative was quick and interesting. I only felt slightly hampered by not having read the previous books. Rick’s sister-in-law is missing and her brother has attempted suicide, so she becomes involved in the case despite her own personal problems. A body is found decades after it has disappeared, four other women and four men, all teens when the original disappearance happened, who was responsible and who is damaged by the lies told? Dark and a bit creepy.

Reading Sara's book reminded me how much kids around 13-15 years old love to find small crevasse's to crawl into, I know I did. This is how the story unfolds. We have a girl (Susan), who hide in a cave when she heard voices but was pinned there when a tree fell. This was what had happened when Trine, Nina and Pia felt they had to go back after waiting for hours for the boys they were seeing didn't come back, and had a disagreement with Susan. Louise Rick just came back from a trip to Thailand, where she had a disagreement with her boyfriend Eik, and came back when her parents called her when her brother tried to commit suicide. Camilla Lind's been covering crime a Morgenavisen and got involved when a 20 year old crime was resolved when a tree finally gave up its crime of Susan's disappearance. Sara has lots of interesting side drama's where people who are characters involved with, who we know, are driven down different paths. She makes the story unfold with dramatic effects and keeps us interested in reading the whole story. Louise finally figures out who was at fault.

Although I have yet to read this series in order, I still find each installment very well written and with enough suspense to keep me interested.

This one turns personal for Louise Ricks when her brother attempts suicide after discovering his partner gone again. But did she just take off like the last time or is something more sinister going on? Louise cannot help herself, her instincts take hold as she investigates the disappearance of a schoolgirl and what connections does it have to her brother’s wife. As she probes deeper secrets come to light and lies are uncovered that have been buried for years.

I think I will read some more in this series.

Harmless Lie is the most recent installment into the Louise Rick series, and Sara Blaedel did not disappoint. Louise was called home for her brother, Mikkel, who tried to commit suicide. There she finds her sister in law as disappeared, and a body discovered is that of a decades old missing teenager. As Louise works to find her sister in law, she realizes more may be at stake. Maybe her sister in law's disappearance is connected to the dead girl.

A teenager who was missing for years is found dead in a small cave. Looking to the past to find out what happened involves Rick’s brothers wife, who is missing. As teenagers the girls snuck out to meet the local boys from the town. Who’s telling the truth of what happened the night she went missing? The girls or they lone student who saw them return? Rick finds out what it’s like to be on the other side of the investigation.
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