The Forgotten Girls
by Sara Blaedel
My rating: **** out of 5 Stars
Published: February 2015 by Grand Central Publishing
Genre: Crime Fiction
Pages: 312
Buy It: Amazon
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What it’s about:
Detective Louise Rick goes back to her hometown to open a missing persons department in her local police headquarters. Two weeks into the job, a new case comes her way. Her job is to find the identity of a woman found dead in the forest. But no one has reported her missing. After releasing a photo to the press, someone does come forward – a former caretaker of a nearby mental hospital. She recognizes the girl because of the unique scarring on her face. But that girl, and her twin sister, has been dead for 30 years. Is it the same girl? If so, why was she declared dead so long ago? And where is her sister?
As Louise begins her investigation with the locals, she is forced to face some difficult memories from her own past. The more she finds out, the closer those memories come to haunt her. However, Louise Rick is determined to find out what happened to those two girls, regardless of the cost.
Why I liked it:
First off, I really liked Louise Rick and her partner Eik. Louise is a smart, driven, and very private person, dedicated to her job and the people that she helped. There is a whole underlying history for Louise that we don’t understand until almost the end of the book. She alludes to it all throughout, and I kept wondering what had happened to make her so closed off to people. Once the truth comes out, you get a much better understanding of who she is and why she is that way.
Eik is an interesting character. He was “assigned” to Louise’s new department, although she was promised she would be able to hand pick her staff. On Eik’s first day of work, he passed out at a local bar and Louise had to go round him up and get him to work. But later, he redeems himself and proves to be a smart and likable partner.
The subject matter of the book is dark and twisty, which is just what I’ve come to expect from Scandinavian crime fiction. The ending was especially a shocking and disturbing surprise. I can see why Sara Blaedel is called Denmark’s Queen of Crime! This was the first book I’ve read of her, but certainly will not be the last one I read. I want to start with Book 1 of the series. It would be interesting to see how Louise develops over time.
Other books like this one:
I Remember You is more of a ghost story mixed with crime fiction, but it is a good story that I highly recommend. And while I am just beginning to explore Scandinavian crime novels, I have been a long-time fan of all crime drama. Amazon Prime and Netflix have some of my favorite crime binges from Iceland, Belgium and France. You can watch these crime gems with subtitles, or you can watch some of them dubbed into English.
Click here to read about some of the best crime drama on TV.
That’s all for today. Until next time, happy reading!
