Camilla Lackberg,Steven T. Murray'sThe Ice Princess: A Novel [Hardcover](2010)

Camilla Lackberg (Läckberg in Swedish) is a young (born 1974), very talented writer. She was voted Swedish Writer of the Year for 2005. Her books have so far sold 1.5 million copies. She is another of the many talented Swedish crime writers.The Ice Princess takes place in the small town of Fjällbacka. When writer Erica Falck returns to her hometown after the funeral of her parents, she finds her childhood friend Alex murdered. Her wrists are slashed, her body frozen in an ice-cold bath. At first, is seems that she has taken her own life. Lackberg paints a portrait of a small, closed community where everybody knows everything about each other and where appearances are of immense importance. Under the wrong circumstances, this may lead to tragedy.Local detective Patrik Hedstrom and his colleges at the Tanumshede police station investigates the case. Detective Hedstrom follows his own suspicions about the case. Meanwhile, Erica conceives a memoir about the beautiful but remote Alex, one that will help to overcome her writer's block as well as answer questions about their own past.But it is only when they start working together that the truth begins to emerge about this small town with a deeply disturbing past.The plot is superb, almost Agatha Christie-ish. The characters emerge with clarity and feel genuine. And Lackberg lets secrets about the little community be revealed that bring about more things than murder.The Ice Princess shows Lackberg's ability to work with emotional responses and her considerable psychological insight. In The Ice Princess she builds like a master.