In The Name Of Truth by Viveca Sten
Publisher: Self-Published (Amazon Crossing)
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by FernA shocking abduction rocks idyllic Sandhamn Island in an enthralling novel of suspense by Viveca Sten, bestselling author of In the Heat of the Moment.
With the summer season on Sandhamn comes an unsettling mystery for Detective Inspector Thomas Andreasson. A bullied young boy has vanished from a sailing camp on neighboring Lökholmen Island. Has the terrorized eleven-year-old run away? Or, in this isolated vacation spot where strangers lurk, is it something more ominous?
The disappearance has also captured the interest of Thomas’s longtime friend, attorney Nora Linde. The missing child happens to be the son of her latest client, Christian Dufva. He is a key witness against his partner in a high-profile embezzlement trial, and Dufva’s testimony could be devastating. It’ll also be Nora’s biggest win—the next step toward a position as chief prosecutor. But with every anonymous threat against Dufva, the stakes get higher.
When new evidence surfaces in their respective cases, new questions and fears arise for Thomas and Nora. Time is running out to resolve them. So is hope of finding the boy alive. Because on Sandhamn Island, the truth is buried as deep as the secrets.
Detective Inspector Thomas Andreasson is called to the small community Lokholmen Island where an eleven-year-old boy has gone missing from a summer sailing camp. Thomas’ long-time childhood friend, Nora, is also caught up in the search as the boy is the son of her key witness, Christian Dufva. Nora’s important court case and Thomas’ missing child case are inextricably wound together, and each are seeking their own answers. Can the two friends work together again, and both receive the answers they need?
I’ve been enjoying this Scandinavian noir style of mystery series and was pleased with this addition. The author has added a good mixture of mystery/suspense plot along with a good smattering or Nora’s court case and the more legal/judicial side of events as they unfolded. I feel readers who like either genre should be very happy with the storyline of this book. I was also impressed that even though this book is well into the series it largely stands well by itself. The personal lives of both Nora and Thomas are quite well developed – but are easily understood and caught up on if readers haven’t read anything previous to this book.
While the pace is a little slower than I find most American styled plots to be, I felt this shouldn’t be too much of a deterrent for most readers who like British or Scandinavian styles of mystery novels. I also thought with the mixture of police and legal drama overlapping this helped keep the feel of the pace moving at a decent clip and it definitely gave me the feeling while reading that the plot was moving along. There was also some character grown for both Thomas and Nora – mostly in respect to their personal relationships. While I didn’t feel either of these partnerships overtook the main plotlines, it definitely added an extra element to the story and I feel made the plots feel a bit more well-rounded.
A solid – though not exceptional – addition to the series this was a good book and an enjoyable light read.
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