THE FOREST (SKOGEN)
Anna Breitholtz Monsén
A teenage girl’s mysterious suicide in the 1980s. A cry for help, written in blood. A murder victim found on a pier. The Forest is an unpredictable page-turner about secrets, guilt, and redemption.
Fred Vince lives on a farm next to the forest in the village of Sandinge. Back in the ’80s, he was part of a successful synth band, but his career ended abruptly when his younger sister took her own life. These days, Fred’s social life mostly consists of his cat and the animal in the forest.
When former police officer and cat hotel owner Lina Lantz visits Fred, he tells her about a strange correspondence: an anonymous woman has been leaving notes tied to the cat’s collar, and Fred has replied the same way. The final note contains one word written in blood: HELP. Who is the desperate woman? What has happened to her? Lina begins to investigate the case, with the help of her grandfather Eskil.
Meanwhile, Lina’s friend, the local police Madde, is faced with a murder: a convicted rapist has been found dead, wrapped in a tarp at a lakeside shelter. Could the two events be connected?
The Forest is the fourth installment in Anna Breitholtz Monsén’s series about Lina Lantz. The series stands out in the crime genre with its sharp portrayal of life in a small community, both in the 1980s and of today. In just a few lines, readers are transported to a time of Walkmans, leg warmers, and synth hairdos. It’s witty and clever—and beneath the idyllic surface lurks a darkness that’s impossible to resist.
Rights
Sweden: Bokfabriken