I am back with another book review, today it is The Lost Woman by Sara Blaedel. Thanks so much to Hachette and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC for review. As always, all opinions are my own.
I've been wanting to get back into thriller/crime novels, and I was hoping that this one would do the trick. Unfortunately, while I liked it, I didn't love it.
Basically, the story follows Louise, a detective in Denmark. Her partner and boyfriend, Eik, disappear one day, not answering his phone and taking out a large sum of money from the bank. Eventually, Louise finds him in England, he was listed as next-of-kin for a woman who was recently shot and killed through her kitchen window while making dinner. It soon comes to light that the woman was Eik's girlfriend who went missing eighteen years ago. What's more is that since her murder, other deaths have been popping up in Denmark using the same rifle.
I won't say much else because then it wouldn't be a mystery!
The book also deals assisted suicide. While such a practice is legal in some parts of the continent, Denmark is not one of them. I think it was really interesting to see the background of how people are chosen, if they are in the right state of mind, terminally ill, etc. There was also opposing opinions, how it is morally and ethically wrong to choose. I think it was worked well into the story, there wasn't really any random croppings up of it, you'll understand if you read the story.
I did find the story a little predictable, I figured about Steph and once one of the individuals was described, I was pretty sure I knew who the killer was. It didn't take away too much from the story, but I did find it made it a little tedious.
I also felt like there wasn't a great connection between the reader and the characters, but to be realistic, this is the ninth book in the series, but the first I have read. So there might be some better connections built in the earlier novels. I'm not sure I would go back and pick up the first eight books, not because I don't think they are worth it, I'm just not sure I enjoyed this story enough to have the commitment to get all these books.
I felt like some things could have been fleshed out a bit more, why Sofie left when she did, some more personal details with Louise and Eik. I guess these things might be been in previous books, but I just feel like some of the details are missing.
Overall, not terrible, but not a favourite.