Fast read. Decent brain chewingum with loads of introspection, motivations rooted deep in the disfunctional family past of the killer, and exploration of the usual topics of the Scandinavian mystery: sexism, violence on women, prejudice against not-average people (guess what? Yes. Another character with Asperger syndrome).
Style is quite flat, but characters are decently complex, at least some of the main characters are. Anyway, they did not grate my nerves, which is more than I can say of most large consume thrillers I have read.
The novel ends, kind of, on a cliffhanger, so I will look for the next installment. Usually I am annoyed by this thing of prefab series, but this novel is unobtrusive, unassuming and agreeable as a pair of fluffy slippers, the kind you can't wait to slip in after a day work, as long as they are new and crispy clean. ( )

Fast read. Decent brain chewingum with loads of introspection, motivations rooted deep in the disfunctional family past of the killer, and exploration of the usual topics of the Scandinavian mystery: sexism, violence on women, prejudice against not-average people (guess what? Yes. Another character with Asperger syndrome).
Style is quite flat, but characters are decently complex, at least some of the main characters are. Anyway, they did not grate my nerves, which is more than I can say of most large consume thrillers I have read.
The novel ends, kind of, on a cliffhanger, so I will look for the next installment. Usually I am annoyed by this thing of prefab series, but this novel is unobtrusive, unassuming and agreeable as a pair of fluffy slippers, the kind you can't wait to slip in after a day work, as long as they are new and crispy clean. ( )

What a great complicated mystery. ( )

Much better than the last one. ( )

"Maybe, one day, we might be identifying Agatha Christie as 'the British Camilla Läckberg.'" -- The Washington Post

**********

I haven't read any Agatha Christie, was she a horrible writer as well? Or did The Washington Post just "phone in" the review / praise since someone at the Post clearly didn't read this book.

If I could write 10,000 synonyms for "whining" – whine, whiner, whined, complain, complaining, whinge, whinging, etc. – and multiplied that by 4-5 generations then that would be the ultimate summary of this book. (Or maybe I am just looking at it the wrong way around, maybe the writing IS genius because no other writer could pull off 500 pages of nonstop bitching.)

On top of the endless self-pitying, there is not one single likeable character in the entire book. This long, monotonous story was neither clever nor engaging, and I would call it downright formulaic; nothing I haven't read dozens of times before.

However, I did learn something. Now I know why so much crime fiction comes out of Scandinavia; if I had to live in a dark wasteland filled with empty, meaningless lives and mean, vengeful souls like Sweden, I would be murdering people left and right too. ( )

I just keep listening to this. It is intriguing, full of surprises, and well performed, Unforunately, I keeping getting distracked by all that is happening ( it's the week before Christmas) so I'll miss an important piece. Lots of characters, some have changed their nams, lots of bad people, but utterly fascinating! I've even researched the plot, characcters, and so forth. Highly recommended.

FROM AMAZON: The remote resort town of Fjällbacka has seen more than its share of tragedies, but a little girl found in a fisherman's net may be the worst yet - especially when the postmortem reveals that this was a methodical murder, not an accidental drowning.

Local detective Patrik Hedstrom has just become a father, and it’s his grim task to discover who could have killed a child both he and his partner Erica knew well. He realizes that the solution lies with finding a motive for this terrible crime. Although Hedstrom is no stranger to the criminal mind, he couldn’t possibly predict how this case will reach into Fjällbacka’s darkest heart, spanning generations and ripping aside its idyllic façade, perhaps forever. ( )

The Stonecutter is the thrilling third book in the Fjällbacka series. The death in this book is quite tragic. A child is found drowned, and it's a child that Erica and Patrick know since the mother of the dead child as a newborn baby in the same age as Erica's. But, it all gets a lot worse when it's discovered that the child was murdered. But, who would kill a child?

The Stonecutter has two parallel stories, the one in the present and then we also move back in time to the beginning of the 20th-century and to a young man, a stonecutter who gets involved with a girl that's far above his league. But, what has this past story to do with the present story?

The Stonecutter is an excellent novel. I love reading books with dual storylines. And I was curious to see what the connection would be between the two stories. The book is chilling to read, the death of a child is always awful to read about and the family of the dead girl acted very strangely. Sure, they grieved the girl, but they all acted so oddly now and then. But, there is also a neighbor feud going on... ( )

9788415140078

Too convoluted ( )

Very easy reading, if you can avoid thinking too hard about all the murders and other cruelty and stuff, but not mindless by any means. Very focused on parent-child relationships. Quite a lot of talk about evil people - but this is a bit misleading as it's more evil emerging out of evil done to people rather than people being evil in themselves. Or maybe I'm just putting my own thoughts into it. Anyway I liked all the different strands of story. Must have liked it because after I finished this book I immediately started reading the next one in the series.... ( )

When I have a hunch of who the killer is, including the complexity of the story line, after 70 pages, the mystery is not that mysterious. I like the setting (small Norwegian fishing village), but I don't think she did enough with it. I liked the parallel stories, but I wished for more historical detail, and the local police force was also not that exciting. Add to this the attempt to deal with Aspergers' I think this book tried to tackle too much. ( )

THE STONECUTTER is written by Camilla Lackberg and translated (from the Swedish) by Steven T. Murray. The title is Book #3 of the Patrik Hedstrom (Fjallbacka) series.
The body of a young child is pulled out of the sea by a local lobsterman.
This is only one strand of a many, many layered web of secrets and betrayals. The plot touches on parental cruelties; deceit; selfishness to the extreme; fundamental religious extremism; the very dedicated Tanumshede Police Force investigation led by Patrik Hedstrom; postnatal depression; poison; family abuse and murder.
The characters of Erica Falck and Patrik Hedstrom are pivotal in the story and the Swedish coastal town of Fjallbacka is a character in its own right.
Noir at its darkest and grittiest. Not to be missed. **** ( )

Der Fischer Frans Bengtsson macht einen fürchterlichen Fang. Mit seinem Netz holt er die Leiche eines Mädchens ein. Patrik Hedström und Erica Falck ermitteln. Hinter der idyllischen Fassade von Fjällbacka kommt eine alte Schuld zum Vorschein. Gefeiert als "Königin des Kriminalromans", ist Camilla Läckberg Skandinaviens erfolgreichste Autorin. "Sie schafft es, Spannung, Alltagsleben und schwedische Atmosphäre kunstvoll zu verweben." NDR Eines Tages macht der Fischer Frans Bengtsson einen schrecklichen Fang. Mit seinem Netz holt er den leblosen Körper eines Mädchens ein. Die Autopsie ruft die Polizei auf den Plan. Im Leichnam finden sich Spuren von Süßwasser und Seife. Die siebenjährige Sara ist ertränkt worden, und zwar nicht im Meer. Patrik Hedström und seine Kollegen ermitteln. Gerade dieser Fall macht dem jungen Kommissar und seiner Frau Erica Falck sehr zu schaffen, da sie gerade erst Eltern einer Tochter geworden sind. Doch gegen alle inneren und äußeren Widerstände lösen sie Rätsel um Rätsel. Dabei tut sich hinter der idyllischen Fassade von Fjällbacka eine kalte, abscheuliche Realität auf: Familienfehden und eine alte, weit zurückreichende Schuld.

Lettura gradevole e scorrevolissima la storia c'è; banale p forse la cronaca nera ha elevato le mie aspettative criminali e non si può pretendere più di tanto.
Mi è mancato il pathos e uno o due colpi di scena. ( )

Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com

I read this book at the height of my Scandinavian thriller period, several years ago, and while I liked all book in the series, this one was always my favourite.

When a young girl is found murdered, the investigation only leads to more suspects and motives as time goes by...

But I tried to re-imagine just what made this one better than the others, and honestly, I can't be sure. The story is decent, as are most of the others, and there's the mixture between suspense and domestic story that is just right. It is a delightfully quick read, and especially to this novel I look back with very warm feelings.

Note: I read a Dutch translation of this book ( )

Mayores de 18 años

Scandanavian mysteries are usually fun to read, and this one doesn't disappoint. It's a good psychological crime story, set in a fishing village in Sweden where a fisherman has "caught" the body of a young girl in his net. In some ways it reminds me of the British TV series, Midsomer Murders, where so many people have motive and opportunity. The story takes place as winter is ending but spring is not coming quickly. The cold and rain lend an ominous tone. The unfolding of the contemporary investigation is interspersed with flashbacks to people who lived in the region many years previously. You feel these vignettes must have some meaning - but what? Read to find out! ( )

It’s tragic when a Fjällbacka fisherman hauls in the body of a drowned child. It’s even more tragic when the medical examiner determines that the drowning wasn’t accidental. The evidence points to murder. The girl’s mother, Charlotte, is a friend of new mother Erica Falck, whose partner Patrik is the police detective assigned to the murder. The present-day murder investigation is interwoven with the story of a stonecutter and his family. The two threads will eventually connect.

Although I liked the first two books in the series, they had problems with pacing, or maybe with translation. Läckberg and her translator hit their stride in this third book in the series. The pacing is much improved, with less awkward dialog. I still don’t like Läckberg’s habit of withholding information from the reader for several pages after a character learns of it.

The character development and story arcs that span several books in the series make this a series to read in order. Even so, this might be a good place for readers new to the series to start since the writing has improved. Once a reader is hooked on the series, they can always go back to the beginning to fill in the gaps. ( )

Mystery set in Sweden. VERY complex story line and characters. Just goes to show you how different mother-child relationships can be. Difficult to see how what was happening in 1923 had anything to do with murder investigation in 2012. But it was integral to the motive. ( )

An engaging and intricately plotted story which progresses in two time frames. The characters are credible, the plotting is good, an evocative sense of place and community is impressive and an increasing sense of darkness pervades the story. About half way through I did guess who the murderer probably was but this didn't spoil my enjoyment of the story. This is the third in the series starring the detective, Patrik Hedstrom but was easily read as a stand alone story. However, I will certainly now seek out the earlier - and later- books in the series. ( )

Third Erica Falck/Patrik Hedstrom mystery. Good story byt awkward, choppy writing style. Skimmed parts to follow the main thread of the story. Lots of disfunctional families, 2 black widows, begins with the murder of a young girl and spreads our to include 7 other murders, preceding the girl's, in her family.Add a couple of moronic policemen and a case of postpartum depresiion. First book in the series was the best. ( )

Excellent mystery combining the past and present ( )

excellent book, right up until the end, would love to see this as a movie ( )

What I learned from this book is that I will be giving this author a miss from now on.

I really enjoyed The Ice Princess but found The Preacher disappointing although I chalked that up to second book syndrome and so decided that I would read the third book in the series.

This book never grabbed me, the characters were completely unsympathetic and the murderer was obvious. ( )

Powerful story combining crime mystery with generational personality disturbances. Quite dark and complex. Probably best read without too much time between sittings so that the threads are not lost by the reader. ( )