Lars Keplar, The Nightmare

The Nightmare is the second book in Lars Keplar's series featuring Swedish detective Joona Linna, a smart, sometimes almost prescient policeman who, this book hints, is haunted by some sort of tragedy. This time around, Joona is investigating the murder of a young woman on an abandoned boat, a death that winds up having connections to a much larger complex of crimes. The book is a page turner, and Joona is a very likable protagonist. I enjoyed this book a bit more than The Hypnotist, the first in Keplar's series, which lost its focus, I think, by telling the story from too many different perspectives. The one thing that bothered me about The Nightmare was the character of Saga Bauer, a policewoman who winds up working with Joona. She's a competent female in a man's world and she's very sensitive about misogynistic slights, to the point of throwing quite unprofessional hissy fits now and again. I found that hard to believe. But this series started well and got better: I look forward to reading more from the author.