Very very good! I was sad to see that the author passed away before this book was published; I would have been eager to see more from her in the past. I ran to the library to get her debut.

Martin knew he had worked to craft the perfect life for himself and his family. That is until the day his son goes missing, presumed dead even though a body is never found. Life spirals down hill after that. Maya is an artist, part-time forensic photographer, in town for a bit of a sabbatical because she wants a change for her life. In that time she learns of Martin's loss through a mutual friend and suddenly takes interest in helping Martin witg his grief when friends ask her to check up on him. Through their conversations, they discover strange pattern of death on the exact same day that Martin's son went missing? Is it supernatural or is it something far more sinister hailing from humanity. Check out Winter Water to find out, it was a really solid thriller.

Surprisingly, I really enjoyed this book, it was a real slow burn with an ending that I found quite satisfying. I really enjoyed the interweaving of dealing with grief, environmental discussions, Swedish folklore, the paranormal, and mystery elements, all of which made Winter Water in a unqiue thriller and an interesting read.

Set on a Swedish island in the depths of winter, Winter Water is the story of one family faced with the disappearance/potential drowning death of their young son.

Winter Water is marketed as a thriller, but I think that's doing the book a disservice, and also setting an unreasonable expectation for readers. This book is much more a quiet study of grief and its various manifestations than it is a thriller. After an explosive beginning, the pace slows way down to focus on how the family deals with the loss of their son, while throwing in some meandering subplots and introducing characters who seem to belong to a different story. Very little is mentioned about the investigation into the child's disappearance until the last third of the book, when the narrative speeds back up in a way that almost feels jarring. With writing that does more telling than showing, I struggled to emotionally connect to the characters and never really felt I had a handle on the direction of the narrative.

Set against the backdrop of a freezing ocean on an isolated island in the coldest part of winter, Winter Water is an atmospheric story that had me feeling the chill in my bones. But overall, I felt that there was a more interesting story to be told here than the direction that was taken. Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for my digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

An intriguing Swedish mystery, with just a hint of supernatural, about a little boy who disappears. Very atmospheric with well developed characters written in such a way that the reader cares about them, their emotions and predicament. A moving ending.

Published in Sweden in 2020; published in translation by Grand Central Publishing on December 7, 2021

Winter Water straddles the border between crime fiction and horror. The story begins with a missing child, an overused crime fiction concept that challenges writers, usually without success, to take a fresh approach. Susanne Jansson meets the challenge by using ambiguity to create the suspense that most missing child novels lack. Did four-year-old Adam fall into the ocean and drown? His bucket at the water’s edge and the discovery of his boot in the water lend support to that theory. But Martin, Adam’s father, has been receiving anonymous threats, perhaps related to a property dispute with his neighbor. Is it possible that the neighbor, or someone else, kidnapped the child? And what should we make of other children who have disappeared in the same location and on the same day, January 11, during the last half century?

Martin theorizes that a little girl who drowned in the 1960s is calling other children to join her. He finds some evidence to support that view and even feels the pull himself, heightening the supernatural theme. A woman named Maya who befriends Martin as he struggles with loss and despair pursues the theory that the child was kidnapped. Maya has done some part-time police photography that has fueled her investigative instincts. She uncovers ambiguous evidence to support her kidnapping theory, although she nearly dies in the attempt to prove she’s right.

Uncertainty builds suspense as Martin tries to go about his life during the year following the disappearance, always wondering about Adam and occasionally feeling the temptation to join him if he, in fact, accepted a drowned girl’s invitation to meet her beneath the waves. Maya’s investigation, on the other hand, seems to reach a dead end until new information helps her pull some clues together. Even after Adam’s fate is revealed, suspense continues to drive the story.

The characterization in Winter Water is more subtle than a reader might expect from a missing child story. Martin understandably falls apart, feeling the guilt of failing to prevent his son’s disappearance. His wife holds it together for the sake a new baby until their roles reverse and she falls apart. All of this is handled with admirable restraint. Where an American writer might have turned out horribly weepy scenes, Scandinavian writers seem to take tragedy and depression in stride, regarding them (as they often are) as a natural part of life that can be depicted without melodrama. Maya also gains sympathy in a relationship subplot as her investigation impedes a blossoming romance.

Jansson skillfully blends the conventions of crime fiction and horror stories to keep the reader guessing about Adam for most of the novel. Both theories about Adam's disappearance are plausible (at least for readers who suspend their disbelief in the supernatural for the sake of a good story). Without spoiling the clever plot, I can say that in some sense, both theories are valid. Jansson’s ability to balance the genres should make Winter Water appealing to horror fans and crime fiction fans, or to any reader who enjoys a good story.

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This is a sad story about a house near a small seaside tourist island in Sweden, about loss, about grief, about breakdowns, about friendship. It is extremely difficult not to give away the parts of the story that matter. in a review. Martin and Alexandra, their three year old son Adam and infant daughter Nellie moved to Orust to live in Martin's childhood vacation home near the sea. He needed to recover from the stress and pace of urban life and it looks like his home renovations, his work for a large mussel farm and his decision to create his own mussel farm has turned him around. Alexandra also is pleased with her job as a librarian. Martin's best friend, Robert, and his wife Lia live nearby. Maya, a well-regarded artist/photographer has done a house-swap with another artist and has befriended Lia and Robert. She is involved with Backe, another artist, who lives in the environmental collective on Orust where Maya is staying. Martin's parents live nearby. The story opens with Martin, diving in the cold waters of January to see if his relatively new Mussel farm has been vandalized again. We know that a couple of brothers, whose land he must cross, are hostile. We know that his wife and daughter are going to visit her parents for a few days. Martin is thinking ahead about how he will entertain Adam while she is gone. He goes about his day, picking Adam up from day care, stopping by the grocery store, going home to find Alexandra cooked, seeing Alexandra and Nellie off, finding Adam sleepwalking on the beach at night and feeding him his favorite breakfast in the morning. I love the details Jansson brings to each character, each relationship and that the sea and its secrets is a character. I could not easily put this book down, but it is dreamy and slow and upsetting things happen and the past turns out to be messy for the house, for Martin and for others we get to know. This is a lovely story of human failure and trauma and of healing. Seemingly strong relationships are tested. Maya, a stranger, plays a key role in a stranger's survival, yet she has trouble accepting that her connection with Backe might finally be true love in middle age. The characters are relatable in their pain and in their love for one another and in their desire to know and understand the unfathomable sea. There's a tiny touch of a ghost story here, but is is mostly a beautifully written mystery for people who enjoy a wonderful, evocative setting and well-developed characters. So, if slow, Scandinavian atmospheric writing is not your cup of tea, move on. It was very sad to learn author Susanne Jansson passed away in summer 2019, at age 42. I will read her first book, "The Forbidden Place," which apparently has a similar tone. Definitely MY cup of tea!

This story had so much potential but ultimately something about it did not work for me. The mystery was compelling, but the pacing was too slow. Also, because of the Swedish, island setting, I was hoping for a more atmospheric and unsettling vibe.

What a mesmerizing, ethereal, compelling read. A story of grief and the effects it has on parents after the suspected drowning of their young son. How does one deal with such a loss, especially when there is no body to mourn, to lay to rest?

Grief may be dominant in this story, but what kept me enthralled was the sinister, psychological and yes, ghostly undertones which lead to a startling conclusion.

Excellent read!

I was pleasantly surprised how this book was sucked down with relish. I mean most books are hard to follow but Susanne Jansson was an easily followed though out the book. She used words that seemed to flow with ease, making understanding quite easy. You may think a horror story is hard to read about but Susanne takes it to another level by being subtle, and I think that is how you and make the story shine with simplicity. You don't even know that you are reading a horror story and it will show up in the very end. I like the way she shows all her characters with hidden idiosyncrasies which make them seem more human to me. This book was 5 stars in my mind.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an ARC copy of this book in exchange for honest feedback.

When reading about the author, Susanne Jansson, I learned that she died of cancer after writing only two books.
It made me very sad. I had just finished reading Winter Water and was thinking that this author would really improve with time and possibly become one of the wonderful Scandinavian Noir writers. Now we'll never know.

First of all, don't start this book in the evening. It's not often I can't go to sleep until I have finished but this book did just that for me. It has many of the Scandinavian accents we all know--water everywhere, cliffs and islands that do not seem friendly unless one has spent their entire life there. I believe this is called 'atmospheric'

There were two things that I found compelling. The description of the sea, of water, of the changes of water, and the cries that water can seem to make calling out to people. Some people go mad. This was described beautifully and it was believable. The other is the journey of grief. That the journey is different for everyone and for many of us, we cannot save those we love from the depths of grief.

The story itself was mostly believable, although I didn't really care after a while. It was a good mystery and two imperfect people were trying to get to the bottom of it.

I recommend this book. It is about grief, relationship and intimacy, and parenting on a cold 'atmospheric. island off of the northern Swedish coast. And it's a darn good read.