An Embla Nyström Investigation Book 2

Mostly deals with the "love lives" of the three main characters. Police procedural seems secondary. ( )

Tursten has created an excellent mystery involving the disappearance of two young children that shows us how easy it is for public opinion to find a scapegoat... and how some people have no business being around children at all, let alone being parents.

For those readers still missing Tursten's Irene Huss, she does make a token appearance. And while we're on the subject of characters, the lives of Embla's fellow officers are fleshed out more, and that adds a lot to the story without bogging down the pace.

I'm having a difficult time warming up to Embla. She's constantly judging people on what they eat, on their weight, how they dress, how they smell. I know human beings do this without even realizing it for the most part-- and to be honest, Embla doesn't voice many of her opinions-- but I do get tired of reading about them. She's abrasive and she knows what she wants. A lawyer in Winter Grave learns that the hard way.

Embla has recurring nightmares about the disappearance of her best friend Lollo when they were both teenagers. Embla feels a great deal of guilt because she hindered the police investigation. Winter Grave ends on a cliffhanger (I can hear groans from some of you) that leads me to believe that we may find out what happened to Lollo in the next book in this series. Even though I don't really care for Embla, I have to admit that I am interested in learning what happened to Lollo. We shall see... ( )