About the Book
When Hedda Hellberg fails to return from a retreat in Italy, where she has recently been grieving for her dead father, her husband discovers that her life is tangled in mystery. Hedda never left Oslo, the retreat has no record of her and, what’s more, she appears to be connected to the murder of an old man, gunned down on the first day of the hunting season in the depths of the Swedish forests…
My Review
Cursed is the fourth book in the series to feature Henning Juul. I was a little concerned at first, I’m not very good at reading out of sequence. But there was enough information, with no spoilers to follow the story and the relationship between the characters.
The start is brutal with the murder of an elderly hunter in a wood but it then switches immediately to Henning, Nora and their respective searches. They used to be married but the marriage fell apart with the death of their son. However, they still have strong feelings for each other which they both try and ignore.
Henning is trying to find out who was responsible for the death of their son despite the danger that it places him in. Nora has been asked to help find an old friend from university who has disappeared after telling her husband she needed some time on her own.
This is a novel, that once I worked out the back story I really enjoyed.
I have always struggled with novels that feature journalists before, probably because they are portrayed as being without morals or loyalty. But both Henning and Nora were warm, honest and approachable. Henning, especially faced danger with his quest and there were a few times that I wasn’t optimistic about him surviving. Nora was unaware of how much danger she could be in. Her friend was from a very wealthy and powerful family, some of whom who didn’t like questions being asked. Most of the novel focused on Nora. I liked both, but loved her strength and loyalty. She still grieved the loss of her son and felt guilty being optimistic about the future.
The cases joined very well, I didn’t see how they would do but it was all believable. Power, greed and money are never far from anything. The ending was a huge shock. I purposely covered the last paragraph with my hand so I didn’t accidently see a name. and the name it revealed was one that had me aching for an immediate follow up. Book five will not come quick enough.
With thanks to Karen Sullivan, as always for the copy received.
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