Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Under the Storm.

Under the Storm is marketed as a mystery, but it's more of a character driven novel focusing on two main characters, the nephew of a convicted murderer and the police officer who helped put the murderer behind bars.

Over the course of twenty years, the nephew and the police officer wrestles with the conviction; the former not entirely sure of his beloved uncle's guilt and the latter unsure if the right person is in jail.

Years after the murderer dies in prison, the case returns to haunt the police officer when possible new information comes to light and he resolves to find out the truth, once and for all.

The writing is great; atmospheric and moody, the ideal setting for a tragic story.

The author sets the tone for how the murder affects the town, the community, the family and relatives, and the police officer.

There's plenty of exposition, too much, on how the lives of the nephew and police officer are shaped by this tragedy.

The narrative goes on far too long, coupled with the unfortunate aspect of any novel translated from its original language into English means foreign names and places are hard to keep track of.

I didn't connect with any of the characters, and some threads were left dangling, such as what was the secret the nephew wanted to tell his uncle? How could he forget something like that?

The police procedural aspects of the story pop up here and there, and there's no urgency or suspense.

The mystery is a subplot to the real story; how tragedy and fear shapes a person, how we internalize that shame and fear, and that life is what we make of it.

A melancholy yet compelling read about a murder that tore apart a small community and the small things that can lead investigations and people down the wrong path. Are some people just born with something wrong inside of them? Can we choose who we become or are we destined to end up like our grandfathers or uncles?

This book tells the story of Isak, a young man who watches his uncle go to prison for a murder he's insistent he did not commit, and Vidar, a young policeman who also questions the guilt of Isak's uncle. They live their lives completely separately yet the fate of this man causes the shape of both of their lives to change dramatically. Small town police procedurals sometimes follow a similar pattern but this is a vast, literary mystery that explores our human relationship with ourselves, with the truth, and with our families and community. How do the perceptions of others affect our perceptions of ourselves, and how do those perceptions in turn shape us? Read this if you enjoy complex stories and strong character development.

Under The Storm by Christoffer Carlsson
Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for this eArc!
I would give this book a 4 out of 5 stars. I wasn't able to predict the killer. I reread the book but wasn't able to find any clues that would have pointed to the killer. The details and storyline are wonderful and easy to follow. I was constantly on edge trying to solve the mystery!
This is a story of an unsolved murder of Lovisa Markström that all started with a fire that burned her entire house down. Solving the murder mystery became all consuming for Officer Vidar Jörgensson. The story then takes a twist as Isak Nyqvist, the nephew to the alleged murder Edvard Christensson, shares his point of view. How could the uncle he spent so much time with as a child be a murder? How could Isak not see that his uncle was capable of this? Does it run in their family to have such evil intentions? Isak and Vidar become an unlikely team to solve the murder of and try to clear the name of Uncle Edvard. Could they ever clear Uncle Edvards name? Would they be able to convince the town that Uncle Edvard was innocent?

Under the Storm continues the story from Blaze Me A Sun with Vidar Jörgensson now a policeman in his own right. He has followed his father into police work and like his father has become obsessed with a death in Marbäck in the 1990s. A farmhouse is set ablaze with a young woman inside. However, further investigation finds that she was murdered prior to the fire. The village is traumatized and through the years marks time by "before the fire" and "after the fire." Vidar arrests a likely suspect who is then convicted and sent to prison. However, Edvard Christensson is silent in his own defense. Edvard's young nephew Isak is devastated with his uncle's conviction and begins to believe the males in his family are destined to be violent which horribly impacts his coming of age.

Meanwhile, Vidar feels there is more to the crime and his obsession nearly wrecks his professional and personal life. In the end, his concerns are interwoven with Isak and his self-destructive adulthood. This is a psychological mystery of the highest level written by Christoffer Carlsson whose reputation in Scandinavia is well regarded. We are fortunate to finally have one of his books (Blaze Me A Sun) available and the second to be published soon. Highly recommended for those who enjoy psychological mysteries and excellent character development.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House/Hogarth for a chance to read this book prior to publication.

There is absolutely nothing better, in my opinion, than a moodily atmospheric, sparsely (yet poignantly) worded Swedish crime mystery! "Under the Storm" by Christoffer Carlsson deliver that and much more! The ARC edition of this novel was my first experience with Carlsson's work, but I am already searching out the availability of his previous literary efforts and highly recommend this novel to future readers.

At the center of this novel is the horrific, unsolved murder of a young woman deep in the countryside of Marbäck, Sweden. At the novel's steadily beating heart, however, is the careful examination of how acts so horrible and mystifying reach out and insinuate themselves into the very lives of the family, friends, neighbors, town folk, and investigators. I can not think of a more aptly chosen title to foreshadow what is to come within the book's pages!

Carlsson puts forth early on in the novel a Swedish concept (yet to this very non-Swedish reader it rang universally true within the human experience) of "not knowing where to put oneself." As best as I can summarize this idea without revealing how this concept played out in the novel, the idea that no matter what stage of life one is in, no matter what level of experience or education one possesses, no matter one's age or gender, there is a pervasive (and often elusive) quality of being ill-equipped to stand with understanding within one's own life. More likely, it would seem, that we frail humans find ourselves flailing about separate and apart, as it were, from fully understanding our place in not only our own life but also our true place within the world around us. I do so hope I've articulated that well enough, dear potential reader. Ahhhhh...the Swedes do introspection wonderfully, yes?

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and am deeply grateful to the author for his craft and to the publisher for bringing the book to its U.S. readers. (This ARC was a translation from its original Swedish.) I offer this honest review in advance of its publication date of February 27, 2024.

#underthestorm
#christoffercarlson
#netgalley
#swedishcrimenovels
#wheretoputoneself

This was a fast-paced, interesting read, that I found I did not want to put down! Great, multi-faceted characters. Suspenseful and thrilling. Kept me intrigued from the first page to the last.

*I received a complimentary ARC of this book in order to read and provide a voluntary, unbiased and honest review, should I choose to do so.

Under the Storm is a different kind of police procedural. It focuses on the ripple effect of a murder in a small town. The story follows the young nephew of the accused and one of the police officers who arrested him. Both characters are overwhelmingly affected of the repercussions of the crime.
Both characters were well developed. Each continue to search for the truth through out the story.
It moves slowly but I was fine with this pace.
Thanks net galley for allowing to read and review this book.

I tried very hard on this novel but the foreign names confused me to the point that I had to put the book down. I'm sure it's a great novel for someone who enjoys foreign names.

Such a well written book. I love a good criminal suspense book an this one was great!! It was definitely more of a slow burn but it was very interesting and kept me turning the pages to the end. I would definitely recommend this book!! The writing style was excellent and this is a book I won't soon forget.

Thank you to NetGalley and Christoffer Carlsson for the ARC in return for my honest review.

This is a Swedish crime thriller. It is such a wonderful whodunit. This kept me on my toes the whole book! It was absolutely gripping. 5 stars.
I just reviewed Under the Storm by Christoffer Carlsson. #UndertheStorm #NetGalley
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A major fire in a rural farmhouse covers a murder in this riveting Swedish mystery by renowned Swedish criminologist Christoffer Carlsson. It's full of twists, and takes place over several decades with an entering resolution. I couldn't put it down and look for more from Carson.

I love Scandinavian mysteries. This was a slow burn of a book. Literary and a bit dense. I enjoyed this one and will definitely read this author again!

I don’t think I was in the right head space to enjoy this book (definitely in a book slump & forcing myself to read) I feel as if I read it at a different time I would have enjoyed it more. The beginning of the books had me pretty hooked with a house fire/murder. I enjoyed the multi-narratives and how the tragedy affected the small town.

3.5 ⭐️

I felt invested in the characters from the beginning and wanted to know more. The author pulled you into a child's world in a way that felt nostalgic and masterful. I kept confronting the stark contrast between how a child and an adult view the world in a way that allowed me to reflect on the emotional impact of childhood events and how they shape us as people. I'm interested in reading more from this author!

Mixed thoughts while reading Under the Storm by Christoffer Carlsson.

The premise had me intrigued from the start, a house fire, murder, an investigation, muti-narrative, and how it affects everyone in the small town, especially the two main characters. Under the Storm had me hooked. Unfortunately the first third is the best part and the rest was a slog to get through.

The jumping ahead about 10 years felt sudden and out of nowhere. One of the main narrators, Isak, goes through a total attitude change from the likeable 8 year old narrator we started with to a juvenile delinquent. Vidar, the main investigator, changes careers, but the case still haunts him, so he decides to investigate as a civilian. By this point in the novel I wanted to check out as a DNF. Instead I continued onward because I wanted to know who the murderer was and how they got caught.

Speaking of the murderer, the big reveal was a let down and major disappointment. It felt like Carlsson couldn't come up with a game plan on how he was going to lead up to it and felt like an add on at the last minute.

Ok, why did I give it 3 stars and not less? As I said I was hooked until it skipped ahead about 8-10 years. It is written fairly well with a great premise, which makes me want to give Carlsson's other novel a chance and I didn't completely dislike it.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

On a cold November night, a farmhouse burns to the ground. Inside a young woman is found dead To the people in the rural community of Marbäck, the fire becomes a reference point: a before and after. For ten-year-old Isak Nyqvist, it sets in motion something he cannot control, igniting his future into an inferno.

The police immediately focus their attention on Edvard Christensson, the boyfriend of the murdered woman and Isak’s beloved uncle. After a quick investigation, Edvard is found guilty and sentenced to life in prison and Marbäck believes it can return to its innocence. Vidar Jörgensson, the rookie officer who first responded to the fire, prides himself on helping solved the murder.

The author spins an interesting story. His expertise in criminality allows him to weave an intriguing murder mystery. Additionally, his characters are well developed and add to the story’s interest. I gave him four stars. Sometimes he would start a section from a different point of view, which confused me. Definitely worth the read.

When a farmhouse burns down during the night and a woman's body is found inside, dead before the fire started, the police focus on her boyfriend, Edvard. For 10 year old Isak, it is especially hard because it is his uncle who is very close to. As the town people shun the family because of Edvard, the local police officer Vidar Jorgansson doesn't fully believe that Edvard is guilty. Can he find out the truth before anyone else is killed?

This story has some of the same characters as the authors first book, which is nice to relate to.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in return for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for sending me an ARC of Under the Storm in exchange for an honest review.

In November of 1994, a farmhouse in Marbäck, Sweden burns to the ground. A woman, Lovisa, is found inside the ruins, but she had been killed before the fire started. Her boyfriend, Edvard, is soon arrested and convicted of the crime—in part because of evidence found by a young officer named Vidar, and in part because Edvard had always been a violent man just like his father. All of which is deeply upsetting to the one person who loved Edvard unconditionally, his ten-year-old nephew Isak. But over the next 23 years, Vidar questions whether Edvard really killed Lovisa, and Isak struggles against the feeling that he’s inherited something awful and violent from his mother’s father and brother.

Under the Storm is divided into thirds. The first covers the time of the original crime and investigation. The second is ten years later, in the moths leading up to when Hurricane Gudrun hit Sweden. And the final third is still thirteen years later, when we finally get the resolution to who killed Lovisa, and what happened to Vidar and Isak. Vidar’s story is largely a police procedural, but I’m not sure it’s very realistic that an officer would question himself a decade after his biggest arrest. And I know it’s not realistic that the same person would finally solve the mystery more than twenty years after the crime and after being off the force for a decade. As for Isak, he believes he’s going to be a bad, violent person because everyone expects him to be one because of his family, and then he lives down to everyone’s expectations and becomes a violent person. He needed therapy and to get the hell out of this town, and instead he became a shell of what he could have been. Isak’s story was mostly sad, all the more so because I’m sure it is realistic.

I didn’t hate Under the Storm, but I was underwhelmed. ‘Crime haunts the survivors’ isn’t exactly the freshest take. And I thought the book ended too abruptly. I wanted to see how people treated Vidar and Isak after the final revelations, and in particular how Isak viewed himself. Not a bad book, but it didn’t really work for me. 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3.

Under the Storm by Christoffer Carlsson is a quick read that packs a punch. Every twist is unforseen and has a good slow burn when it comes to the whodunit.
The story is set in Sweden, where there's a decimating fire in the community. A house fire that leaves a young woman dead and many questions and accusations. As we follow a boy from his childhood to manhood, we see how the horrific event has affected him through out his life and how his family's members reputation precedes and follows him around.
We also see the main characters life through other POV's through out the book.
Only took took off a star because of confusion in the change of POV. Sometimes it would take me a second to figure out whose POV I was reading. Maybe another reader might not have that problem, and it was just me!