This book had potential but it failed to deliver. The characters are unlikeable and under developed. The plot is unbelievable. This was a huge disappointment

Truly twisted and gutting, this book will grip you with its taut plot and eccentric characters. It was well paced and the suspence was well balanced and built. Loved reading the book.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Not for me this one. I found it a little slow. Sorry.

Such authentic detective work…. The story was fascinating and totally kept my interest. Thank you so much for a great read. I will be looking out for future books by this author.

Nordic noir fascinates me and this novella where the personal collides with the professional was very interesting.
It's fascinating to see the process by which the serial killer psyche is analysed.

Well written with a good flow, good pacing and well developed characters. This was a grippign read right from the start that kept me engaged all the way through. It was twisty and suspenseful and I couldn't put it down.

I received an ARC of, White Lilac, by Cecilia Sahlstrom. This is a mystery set in Sweden. Sara's son is a suspect in a murder, did he do it?

In the south of Sweden Detective Sarah Sabin lives in a home with her three kids and two cats. She’s a very loving mother her son while walking home through a public park sees a foot sticking out of the bushes. When he stops to investigate he sees it is a girl around his age with blood coming out of her mouth. He quickly dial the emergency number, but when the local police get there despite the fact that he was passed out when they arrived he’s arrested as a possible suspect. Sarah is beside herself with grief over her sons arrest. She is also taken off the case and told to stay home for a few days. Her mother quickly comes to help take care of the twins. While out for a walk trying to clear her head she meets Peter, at first she doesn’t care for him but he is good looking and when he asked her to go get a beer she says yes before she can think twice about it. No one really believes Joseph has committed this crime in while Sarah‘s good friend Rita and the fellow detectives try to get to the bottom of it. Sarah tries to get back to normal even going and answering the phones again at the calling center for anonymous abuse children. OK let me just say again that my summary doesn’t even cover 1/10 of what happened and white lilac. This book was so so good! There was one point I wanted to make though in the book Sarah is attacked and she doesn’t fight back because she says he was bigger than her and there’s no way she could beat him. I don’t know what kind of training they give police women in Sweden but I have seen women 5 foot tall take down 6 foot four opponents, maybe the author didn’t know women could be men because it’s not all about size but I thought that was a weird thing to put in the book about a hardnose detective. now that I have got the one negative out of the way if you love cop stories and investigation stories this is a can’t mess she talks to all the girls friends and two of them seem to be hiding something it totally peaks sours interest but what is the secret and why did the victim heaven a circle once a month and her calendar all these questions and more will be answered in this book and believe me when I say there is more than one perpetrator in more than one person you’re gonna want to see taken down. This was a really good book and I can’t miss if you love mystery as I said. I loved it! Please forgive any errors as I am blind and dictate my review but all opinions are definitely my own. I was given this book by net Galley and I am leaving this review voluntarily. #WhiteLilac, #NetGalley#CeciliaSällström

Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

It's summer in the Swedish university town of Lund where a young girl gets brutally attacked in a park. Not far from her police find a young boy who also has been assaulted. Both are holding white Lilacs. Soon the young boy who happens to be the Chief Inspectors son gets considered as a suspect and Inspector Sara Vallen has to do everything to prove her son innocent and solve the case.

Surprisingly this is one of the best and most authentic thrillers I have read in a while which doesn't come as a surprise as the author is a former police officer. The writing was flowing easily and it read extremely fast. I would say if I would have had the time this is something I could have easily read in a day. The tension is there nearly the whole time apart from some smaller hiccups when we get introduced into Sara's private life which for me was still interesting but sometimes the content of it just felt a bit too much considering the nature of the criminal case.
Needless to say check the trigger warnings before you read this cause it's not an easy read.

I absolutely enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading the next one in this series.