"Killer's Island" by Anna Jansson / Reviewed by Clay Stafford

I’m a fan of the differing perspectives in foreign novels (yes, my fellow Americans, there is a world outside the U.S.) and I’m a particular champion of the dark world of Swedish mystery writers. Killer’s Island is the action-packed seventh Detective Inspector Marian Wern book and the second of Anna Jansson’s – I think – translated into English, this one skillfully retold by Enar Henning Koch. I wish I spoke Swedish because – after reading this book – I’d love to read the rest in the chronology and also view the Swedish TV series based upon the character of Wern.

The story starts with a decapitated young nurse dressed in bridal clothes (hopefully not from Jansson’s part-time life as a nurse herself). Killer’s Island is part mystery and part scientific thriller. The supertech villain does a tremendous job playing cat-and-mouse with the police and Wern. What drew me in were my feelings for the victim. This is one of those books where, if you can figure out the motive, you can possibly figure out the killer. All deaths in this novel are taking place on an island – I love confined places stories.

What I got from this book: I have a new author to explore. With over 2 million copies of Anna Jansson’s books in print in over fifteen countries, I can only read two of them! We definitely need more translators and more publishers like Stockholm Text to get onboard sharing works such as this around the world.

Well, this should give you a few eclectic titles to read over the next few days. Get in touch with these authors, learn about them, and tell them you would like to see them at this year’s Killer Nashville.

And remember, if you buy your books through the links on Killer Nashville, you’ll still get the great Amazon discount prices, but – better yet – a portion of the proceeds goes towards the educational events sponsored by the good volunteers at Killer Nashville. So support Killer Nashville while you’re supporting our featured authors!

Until next time, read like someone is burning the books!

– Clay Stafford is an author / filmmaker (www.ClayStafford.com) and founder of Killer Nashville (www.KillerNashville.com).  As a writer himself, he has over 1.5 million copies of his own books in print in over 14 languages.  Stafford’s latest projects are the feature documentary “One of the Miracles” (www.OneOfTheMiracles.com) and the music CD “XO” (www.JefferyDeaverXOMusic.com). A champion of writers, Publishers Weekly has identified Stafford as playing “an essential role in defining which books become bestsellers” throughout “the nation’s book culture.”  (PW 6/10/13)

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