"I raped a woman in a car. It’s near Tiarp Farm. A brief silence followed. Then: I’m going to do it again. Bye."

"Monstrousness was always sleeping right beneath the surface, just out of sight."

1986 – A terrible crime in an out-of-the-way place. A young woman is brutally raped and murdered in her own car. It might have gotten a bit more national attention had there not been another crime that night, the murder of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme. The attention would have been merited, as the killer taunted the police with a phone call, boasting of his deed and promising more of the same. He will become known as Tiarp Man. The case falls to Sven Jörgensson. It will consume him.

Blaze Me a Sun has a frame structure. It opens in 2019, with a writer looking into the famous crimes that had taken place in Halland County, in southern Sweden. He is a local, who has been away for a long time, but felt a need to return home. Those who knew him as a kid call him Moth. The primary story is the one that Moth researches and tells. Then we go back to Moth for the final fifth (or so) of the novel.

The book is divided into multiple periods. The first (inside the frame) is 1986, when the first crimes take place. Next is 1988 when the national police take over the investigation. In 1991, there are more violent crimes. Is it the same person? 2019 is when Moth is up front as our narrator, at the beginning and end of the novel.

I was reminded of the true-crime format, in which the host/narrator walks you through all the details of one or multiple crimes, then offers the reveal at the end. But the first-person perspective of the frame is replaced in the core here by a third-person-omniscient perspective. At the back end of the story, the narrator takes center stage again, leading us through his further inquiries.

Mostly, we follow Sven as he looks into several murders and one near-killing. As with the Palme murder, finding the perpetrator is a fraught, frustrating job. Evidence is scarce and the struggle to identify the perpetrator wears down the patience of both Sven and his superiors over time. He is an intrepid detective, someone who takes his responsibility to the victims and their families to heart. He thinks of them every day, even long after he is no longer on the case, even after he is retired. Sven is an easy character to pull for, mostly. A white knight on a worthy quest, but there is tarnish on that armor as well. Sven is far from purely benign.

"Even heroes can make mistakes. The dream of a spotless past is, after all, only a dream. No one makes it through unmarked. We have to learn to live with it. If we can."

One element that struck me was that we come to think of the victims by their first names, as Sven does. It gives them a bit of extra presence that enhances our feel for Sven’s struggles, his determination to see justice done.

Even Sven’s son, Vidar, as an adult, gets caught up in the complications, the reverberations of the case. Families are a major focus of the book. The crimes have both immediate and long-term impact on the people who must survive the horrific loss of a loved one. Single crimes echo through time to generate multiple waves of misery and destruction. People come to learn things about those to whom they are the closest. You can see why some folks might be jarred learning those things. The truth doesn’t just hurt, it can break your psychic bones, change your direction in life, make you into a different person than you were. Sven’s relationship with Vidar is both loving and strained, a source of tension that carries through the story.

Carlsson links the Tiarp Man murders to the Palme assassination thematically, rather than concretely.

"When the prime minister was shot and the shooter was never more than a shadow heading up the stairs into the dim light of David Bagares Gata, it unleashed something. Distaste. A rage that no one could quite control.
From opinion pages and kitchen tables came an indignant clamor over police and politics, criminality and immigrants, the wretched creature that had become Sweden and one’s own reflection in the mirror. It was clear now. The country could have come through anything unscathed—anything but this. The youthful boy with his smiling eyes, a mother-in-law’s dream who turned out to be a murdering monster up there in the north: Maybe that’s us.
Of course this sort of thing leaves its mark on you. Of course it marks a country. How could it not?"

Tiarp Man personified that for this part of Sweden. Things that remained unresolved for far too long. A sense of community comfort that was forever disrupted.

There is no real magical realism at work in this book, but Carlsson does offer up an omen in the form of a local superstition.

"As spring arrived, the village came to life. Everything seemed to shimmer, and the colors grew so vivid. Sweet days awaited.
The first white wagtail sighting also brought a moment of uncertainty. We learned to be very cautious. If you saw the bird from the back, which you almost always did, it meant happiness and good fortune. But on those rare instances in which you first happened to catch sight of it from the front, and got a good look at the black spot on its tiny breast, it was a bad omen: Misfortune and sorrow lay ahead."

Carlsson knows a bit about police work and crime. Mom was the Swedish equivalent of a 911 dispatcher. And the author’s day job is putting his Criminology PhD to use as a college professor, and writer of professional papers on criminology. His father was an auto mechanic, a job he hands off to Moth’s father in the book. Carlsson is from the area in which these crimes take place. I suppose only those who know the area can opine on whether he presented it accurately.

"Criminology taught me the rough brutal truths about crime: it’s dirty, bloody, messy, painful, raw, costs a lot, and, sometimes, it’s beyond meaning in any reasonable sense of that term." – From Crimereads article

I had only two real issues with the book. There is a gap between some of the crimes that is not really explained, and an authorial disinclination to go into the killer’s motivations. If you are ok with that, then this one should satisfy. It enhances a procedural mystery with a look at family, questioning how well we really know those closest to us, and the limits of what one might do for loved ones. It adds a take on the sense of the place and the times. Best of all, there are some excellent twists.

"The one she asks for light is also the one who will bring darkness. Like the face of Janus."

Review posted – 01/20/23

Publication date – 01/03/23 – (English translation) – It was originally published in Swedish in 2021

I received a digital ARE of Blaze Me a Sun from Hogarth in return for a fair review. Tack, gott folk, and thanks to NetGalley for facilitating.

For the full review, with links, and proper formatting, please head on over to https://cootsreviews.com/2023/01/20/blaze-me-a-sun-by-christoffer-carson/

A police officer obsessing over unsolved murders is always a winner. Well constructed and readable., a fine book about cold cases and their resurgence.

This is a story about crime and its repercussions.

When the prime minister of Sweden is assassinated the same night a serial killer calls in their first murder, it sets off a chain of fear and investigation that lingers through decades. Different characters are affected in different ways, but everyone is affected somehow, sometimes in ways it takes them years to understand.

This book could be really slow moving for me at times, even with the powerful punch of the assassination and murder happening on the same night. But nonetheless there was something compelling about this story that made it so I couldn't put the book down. Whether it was following the characters along on their own personal journeys, or having to know the solution to the mystery, or a combination of both, I'm not sure, but I wasn't able to stop reading (despite having considered it once). And I have to say the big final twist was a really shocking one, and brought everything together in a really satisfying and emotionally hard hitting way.

A taut, calibrated suspense…
Many thanks to Random House and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: January 3, 2023

A #1 bestseller in Sweden, this fantastic crime novel is now available in the US. This is another addition to the long list of Scandinavian murder mysteries I couldn’t put down. Part police-procedural, part sociological study—this dual timeline tale had me trying to piece everything together well before the end, to no avail. This is a good one to get lost in!

It's rare that I read a book in one sitting, but that's exactly what I did here. This book kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time and left me wanting more!

I love this genre so I knew that this would be the book for me. The plot was very engaging and I loved the characters. It was really hard to put down!

4 Very Different Stars
* * * * Spoiler Free
I love a good Mystery Thriller and this ticked all of the boxes. It was very different due to how the country does things USA doesn't. This caused me to sit up and pay attention.
It covered more than the mystery, however, it looked seriously at family relations and how that can impact everything.

On the night that the prime minister is murdered, a small town in Sweden is shocked by a horrific local crime. A police officer obsesses over what happened, even as the criminal taunts the police that he’ll strike again. As time passes, the officer and the town’s residents try to figure out how to move forward as cynicism about the state of their country. Renowned criminologist and award-winning author Christoffer Carlsson draws on his expertise to offer readers a thoughtful, compelling novel in Blaze Me a Sun.

If there’s anything Sven Jörgensson knows in the small Swedish town of Halland, it’s police work. He’s served on the force proudly for years. It’s not always easy, but he knows he’s good at his job and can’t imagine doing anything else.

Being a good cop means spending hours away from family, though, and Sven does wish he could spend more time with his son, Vidar. Vidar is getting older—practically an adult—but the two men struggle to talk to one another. If it wasn’t for Sven’s wife, Bibbi, Sven wouldn’t have a connection to his son at all.

Then comes the case that threatens to take Sven away from everything he loves for good. A young woman is brutally raped and left for dead on the side of the road in the middle of the night in nearby Tiarp. The Halland-Tiarp area may have its share of squabbles, but the police force has never dealt with anything like this. Sven is first on the scene and tries to save the woman, but she dies.

Then the criminal calls into the station and says, “I’m going to do it again.” The police can’t believe the man could be so brazen, and they’re severely unprepared for it all. What makes it worse is that the same night of the attack in Halland, someone has assassinated the prime minister in Stockholm. Despite begging for help with his case from the capital, Sven is turned down. All officers are needed in the city to track down the prime minister’s killer.

Doing the best he can, Sven begins to piece together what little evidence he has with his new partner, Evy. Even with their due diligence, though, Sven and Evy can’t figure out what’s going on. Then the Tiarp man, as everyone has begun to call him, strikes again.

Years later, Sven retires with the crime unsolved. He’s shocked at that reality, but even that doesn’t compare to Vidar’s news: Sven’s son wants to join the police force and become a cop too. Although years pass, the Tiarp man is still at large. Vidar finds himself drawn into the case when the criminal strikes again, but he’s just as unlucky as Sven in determining the Tiarp man’s identity.

Just as suddenly as they started, the crimes stop and time passes. Decades later, a novelist from the area on the hunt for his next story reaches out to Vidar. Recently the novelist has come across some disturbing information that he thinks might provide answers once and for all about the identity of the Tiarp man.

Author Christoffer Carlsson, one of Sweden’s leading experts on crime, writes with an ease that shows his familiarity with his subject. The careful detailing of first Sven’s work, then Vidar’s, and then finally the novelist’s echoes the painstaking efforts police officers take in finding criminals. Unlike flashy TV shows and movies, Carlsson seems to say with this novel, real-life police work often resembles trickles of information that eventually turn into a sea of answers.

The crime itself and the struggle of the people in Halland and Tiarp are certainly compelling. Less so is the novelist’s involvement early on. Late chapters in the novel reveal why the fictional novelist was key to the story, but readers may not remember he’s a part of it until his reintroduction late in the book.

The choice of point of view aside, this American debut for Carlsson is definitely a strong one. Crime thriller lovers will definitely want to check this out.

4.5 stars - Blaze Me a Sun is a unique novel about the hunt for a killer in a small Swedish town over the span of over thirty years. It is complex (and sometimes confusing), but a very compelling crime novel. The point-of-view changes as the book progresses from police officer Sven Jorgensson to his son Vidar's to that of a novelist researching the case the father and son investigated.

It took me a couple of chapters to get a handle on the characters and the premise of the story, but once I did I was completely engrossed in this tense and intriguing book. My favorite parts of the book are when it focuses on the investigation, either from Sven or Vidar's point-of-view. The search for a killer is suspenseful and the side characters that are introduced are memorable.

The few chapters narrated by the writer aren't as clear as the others and are the most confusing to me. However, for the most part, I really enjoyed this well-written, but bleak, crime novel. The author has written other books, but this may be the first one that has been translated to English, but I'll be keeping an eye out for others by Carlsson.

I received an advance copy of this ebook at no cost from NetGalley through the courtesy of Penguin Random House/Hogarth Press. My review is voluntary and unbiased.

In February 1986, the Halland police receive a call from a man who claims to have attacked his first victim. It just so happens that the same night, the Prime Minister is assassinated. He says he will commit more murders. From the mind of a Swedish Criminologist, comes a fast-paced crime novel that was hard to put down. This was a great book and I highly enjoyed it!

Really fun slow burn book - kept me guessing and I liked the setting in Sweden and interesting characters therein. Well written - started slow but appreciated the short chapters that kept me turning pages. I loved the psychological obsession and tension and although I “figured it out” - I enjoyed this one a lot. Thanks to Random
House for the advanced copy!

This was great! I was worried when I saw that there were 100+ chapters but the chapters are short and the pacing is exemplary. I wish the first book in this series were translated but alas it's not so here's hoping the next book will be because I need more! If you like police procedurals or Scandinavian crime thrillers generally, I highly recommend this book! So nuanced and beautifully written.

Blaze Me a Sun comes out this week on January 3, 2022, and you can purchase HERE!

The box in the attic had, for the first time in a long time, made him think of his father, of the life he had led and how it ended. We tend to see those who are no longer with us in a rosy light. Our memory smooths over imperfections, erases conflicts, and neatly bundles the past up so we can carry it with us. Surely it's the only way. We're only human, and can't always manage otherwise. It hurts to grieve the loss of someone who is also a source of pain.

Thank you so much for the ARC! Such a fun book, will share far and wide. Quite dark, quite intense, and though I guessed the solution early on, it didn’t ruin any of the fun of a great, tortured murder mystery. Definitely worth your time, and won’t spoil anything here!

A slow build mystery that explores the effects of murder and violence across generations. A writer returns to his hometown after his divorce and after talking with his neighbor and childhood acquaintances, discovers not all is as it seems when it comes to a serial killer from 1986. The police officer at the time, Sven, attempts to find the killer, but ends up with dead ends and eventually takes matters into his own hands. His son Vidar also tries to figure out who was responsible and ends up working with the writer to uncover the truth. While unraveling the mystery, the book also touches on themes of humanity and the decisions people face when it comes to their loved ones. Fans of Scandinavian noir and murder mysteries will enjoy this one.

Amazing book. It's so much more than a crime novel. It looks at what happens when a cop gets obsessed with a solving crime and the way guilt can affect someone. This book has won the Swiss Crime award. It's being published for the first time in the USA.

A crime writer decides to write a book about a crime that happened 30 years ago. Sven Jorgensson is the cop that finds the first of a serial killer crimes. The case is never solved, and when the writer starts digging things aren't as the seem.

This will Publish on January 3, 2023.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for the Kindle Version of the book. All thoughts and prayers are my own.

🙂 Happy Reading 📚🙂

#netgalley
#randomhousepublishing

In February 1986, the Halland police receive a call from a man who claims to have attacked his first victim. I’m going to do it again, he says before the line cuts off. By the time police officer Sven Jörgensson reaches the crime scene, the woman is taking her last breath. For Sven, this will prove a decisive moment. On the same night, Sweden plunges into a state of shock after the murder of the prime minister. Could there possibly be a connection? I absolutely love nordic noir and this writer is one of the best. An incredibly novel plot, great attention to the events of the time and lots of twists and turns. This character needs to have his own tv series. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

I really like Scandanavian noir and I like it really dark. This is not that dark, but it falls into the acceptable range.

A writer returns to his home town after a divorce and starts poking around in an old cold case that happened when he was a child. He starts digging up things that others might prefer not to have revealed and perhaps not to know themselves. It's rather clever. I would definitely recommend it and I would also go out of my way to find other books by this author.

I was so drawn in by the many twists in this novel! Very atmospheric setting and complex characters. I will be including this title in our library program, New Year, New Books.

Powerful and well-written. What starts as a crime novel ends up being so much more. Fathers and sons, families, community and, society itself all come under the author's scrutiny. Far from being gratuitous, the plot twists are the point. Is it the writer's task to find the truth or to invent worlds in which the truth makes sense? What a great novel.