CLOSE YOUR EYES (TILLS NATTEN ÄR SLUT)

A man is found shot dead in a park early one morning in August. The bullet hit him in the temple, and he died immediately, leaving a wife and small children behind. But what was he doing out late on a Sunday night? And why did someone want to kill him?

Mija Wadö is put in charge of the case, and, while she works, she tries to keep her mind off the life-changing information she recently learned. Ronnie is back at the station, and their working relationship is getting stronger. But when another man is found shot in the same way, the police are faced with a growing mystery.

The author Zarita Roos is struggling to write her new book when, at a restaurant, she overhears two police officers talking about a new murder case. The details are frighteningly familiar.

Nilla Kjellsdotter is back with a new page-turner about Mija Wadö and her colleagues at the Ostrobothnian Police.

Rights

Denmark: Cicero
Finland: Gummerus
Norway: Cappelen Damm
Sweden: Norstedts

REVIEWS

“Close Your Eyes is a crime novel with pace and captivating characters. The main character, the police Mija Wadö, is particularly interesting. The language is well written and simple, but not lacking depth. It is refreshing that the murder victims are not young women, and embedded in the story is an original meta perspective about a crime writer, which is woven together with the central storyline well. The environment in which the story takes place, in the Swedish-speaking part of eastern [sic] Finland, is also fascinating.”
BTJ / SWE

“The intrigue in Close Your Eyes is skillfully built up, and Kjellsdotter cleverly plants false leads along the way; it is clear that she knows her characters well.”
Hufvudstadsbladet / FI

“In its construction as a crime novel, Close Your Eyes is Kjellsdotter’s most well-rounded book so far. False leads are planted – and the element of surprise doesn’t explode too early. Kjellsdotter masters all these important components of the detective genre. The chapter where the book reaches its bloody climax is grippingly written and includes, among other things, horror in an outdoor toilet in Oravais. It is very strongly written.”
Vasabladet / FI

“Mija Wadö mysteries are picked up for the content’s sake. Partly to find out how she handles and heals from her personal trauma and how her relationship with colleague Ronnie develops, partly to follow exciting murder investigations. All this in an Ostrobothnia that is refreshingly rich in contrasts. Here, there are poor and rich, rural and urban dwellers, Swedish-speaking, Finnish-speaking, and bilingual individuals, helpful and unhelpful, just like in reality. If it suits and testifies to their personality, Nilla Kjellsdotter lets them express negative opinions about everything from curious neighbors to alert news journalists without it affecting the rest of the text. She writes entertainingly and with a strong drive. Thoughts are reminiscent of Camilla Läckberg’s Fjällbacka series, but here we have a protagonist who actually has the job of investigating murders. It makes the whole thing more realistic. The crime writer from Oravais can hold her head high among her national Swedish genre colleagues.”
Österbottens Tidning / FI