Once again I’m linking up again with Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea who hosts a post every Tuesday for people to share the first chapter / paragraph of the book they are reading, or thinking of reading soon. Diane is currently on a summer break but I have decided to carry on regardless because these are some of my favourite posts. I see others are doing the same – if you are, please leave a link to your post in the comments so that I don’t miss checking out your reads.

This week, I’m reading Guiltless by Viveca Sten, the third in the Sandhamn crime series. I’ve really enjoyed the other two so here’s hoping third time is still a charm.

Here’s what it’s about…

The tiny Swedish island of Sandhamn has always been a haven for lawyer Nora Linde. With trouble brewing in her marriage, she finds its comforts more welcome than ever, even in the depths of winter. That is, until her two young sons trip across a severed arm in the woods.

The boys’ gruesome discovery will once again connect Nora with her childhood friend Thomas Andreasson, now a local police detective. When the limb is identified as belonging to a twenty-year-old woman who disappeared without a trace months earlier, what had been a missing persons case takes on a whole new urgency.

Nora and Thomas delve deeply into the woman’s final hours, each of them wrestling not only with the case but with the private demons it awakens in them. As they do, they’ll find themselves drawn into the history of Sandhamn and the tensions that have been simmering just below the surface for more than a hundred years.

And here’s how it starts…

Saturday, November 4, 2006 Marianne Rosén stood motionless in the hallway. The shoes were all in a heap. She automatically bent down and lined them up neatly. Then she realized Lina’s pale Timberland boots were missing.

The realization terrified her. Why hadn’t Lina come home last night?

What do you think – would you keep reading?

Emma x

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