Little Marcus has been traumatized by witnessing the murder of his grandmother.  He feels secure only when he is with the dogs belonging to police dog handler, Krister Eriksson.  So Eriksson kindly humors Marcus by letting him be a wild dog, letting him sleep in the dog kennel.  Of course Eriksson tucks Marcus into the heavy sleeping bag and covers him with a blanket before climbing into his bag in the tent he has set up by the door to the kennel.  Marcus barks a woof in thanks.

The little village of Kiruna in far northern Sweden is shaken by the brutal murder of Sol-Britt.  Rebecka Martinsson, a public prosecutor, should be investigating the case, but she’s been pushed aside by a publicity hungry associate. Reacting angrily, she refuses another assignment and takes her owed holiday.  Now, with time on her hands, she begins to look into the murder on her own.  Odd coincidences appear.  It seems that Sol-Britt’s grandmother was also murdered, and her son and father met unexplained violent deaths.

The story shifts back and forth from the present to the past to tell the story of Sol-Britt’s grandmother, a school teacher in the early days of Kiruna.  It was a mining town in 1914.  The cold and mud, the hard life of the people enveloped me as I read. While the solving of the present day murder was the primary focus of the book, I was far more interested in the young teacher’s life. I enjoyed this book very much.  It was well written with interesting, believable characters. And northern Sweden is a setting I’d not encountered before.

eGalley review        Publication date 8.12.14