BONES OF THE DEAD (TRE VARV MOTSOLS)

Book 1 in the Edda Chronicles 

Meet Edda Erlenstam who will, like a female Indiana Jones, traverse the remotest regions of 1930-40s Sweden on her mission to unearth ancient artifacts, uncover archaic legends and explore deeply held beliefs of mythology and witchcraft across the series.

Northern Sweden, the summer of 1929. Edda Erlenstam arrives in a remote region of Jämtland armed with a revolver, a primus stove, and her trusty bicycle. Her official mission as an assistant archivist at the National Dialect and Folklore Archive in Uppsala is to collect folk tales and document local myths. But, beneath this guise lies her true objective: to find a rare 17th-century book of black magic. The grimoire, once owned by the enigmatic Mister Ola, is shrouded in rumours of dark sorcery, communion with the underground people the vittra, and witchcraft. Apart from her own personal interest in the occult stemming from her upbringing in the rural North, obtaining the book would secure Edda’s position at the archive, which is tenuous to say the least considering Edda’s situation as an unattached woman, and a woman without higher education to boot. Edda is not about to back down from a challenge, and she leaves for Jämtland immediately.

Edda’s pursuit of the grimoire soon stirs up old enmities, which leads to a life-or-death pursuit across the moors of Jämtland for Edda and her beau, Dr Jonas Tomner, as they realise that they are not the only ones searching for the book.

At the same time, Edda begins to experience strange phenomena – dizziness, hallucinations and waking nightmares – and she starts to wonder if those are the side effects of the new sleeping draughts she is taking to combat her insomnia, or if there is perhaps some truth to the ancient legends of black magic and mysterious powers after all?

BONES OF THE DEAD is a spellbinding and eerie historical suspense debut steeped in Nordic folklore and the dark arts, with a plucky heroine one will not soon forget.

The fact that Edda is based on a real-life person, Ella Odstedt, a female 20^th century collector of folk tales, only heightens the allure to get to know Edda, and the series, better.

Rights

Sweden: Albert Bonniers Förlag

REVIEWS

“Per Faxneld’s eerie historical adventure Bones of the Dead is a one-of-a-kind debut: enigmatic, accomplished and deeply rooted in Faxneld’s unique knowledge of history and folklore. It is a novel that will play with your mind and have you question the reality around you, while at the same time keeping you deliciously entertained throughout. A page-turner from Northern Sweden, with bicycle chases on bumpy forest trails and a truly unforgettable heroine!”
–Johanna Haegerström, editor, Albert Bonniers Förlag, SWE