Angel Maker: An Unputdownable Scandinavian Crime Thriller With A Chilling Twist (DI Jamie Johansson Book 1)

Good: Sweden is cold and well described, if dour.Indifferent: Lots of this I'm afraid. I really struggled. This story centres on the return of a serial killer after many years, hence it's a huge case.The main protagonist is unreasonable, unpleasant and does that most cliched of tropes... retains information rather than tells her partner. Her assigned partner is unfriendly, unreasonable and seems to have little in the way of skills, odd given he's a senior detective. Unrealistically everybody hates her because of who her dad was. Finally this is a huge case; Stockholm essentially assigns 1 detective, 1 pc and a foreign consultant to it.All in all just too unlikely and threw me out of the story.

A teenage girl is found dead in the woods; her body arranged like an angel. Bearing a striking similarity to crimes committed decades earlier, could it be the work of a copycat killer or was the wrong man imprisoned all those years ago?Detective Inspector Jamie Johansson, taking time away from the London Met, has returned home to Stockholm. Her father, now dead, was responsible for capturing the Angel Maker. With access to his notes, Jamie has been asked to assist the Stockholm police. But time is of the essence — the killer is gearing up to take another young life.Angel Maker was an extremely good read. The wintery Stockholm setting really appealed and I felt the author did a wonderful job describing the beautiful, frozen landscape. The story was fast-paced with fully developed, interesting characters. Detective Inspector Jamie Johansson was presented as a strong, independent female lead but with a softer layer beneath her hard outer casing. I liked her very much.The plot was gripping, twisty and intricate. Although the crimes were shocking, the author never lost sight of compassion and empathy. I thought it was an excellent read and I highly recommend it.

Saw this advertised on Facebook. Was looking for my next read & after reading a few reviews thought I'd buy it.Have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a page turner from the start.I read a lot & base my reads on the reviews other people leave after reading, hence why I'm leaving my opinion.It's an easy read, easy to follow, descriptions are well noted so your minds eye can envision the story.A good read. Must of been as I've just pre-ordered the next one in the series.

Book 1 in the DI Jamie Johansson seriesEvery Angel deserves their wings...A teenage girl is found dead in the woods. The killing bears a chilling resemblance to those of the Angel Maker, a serial killer caught two decades ago.But with the old case files missing and doubts swirling about the original investigation, London Met detective Jamie Johansson is drawn back to the icy streets of her home city to help. Her father, one of Stockholm’s most notorious detectives, closed the case when Jamie was just a girl. Now her memories maybe the only key to unlocking the past and the truth of whether he put the right man behind bars all those years ago.Jamie will have to confront her own dark childhood, as well as the evil stalking the city if she hopes to crack this case. But with so many secrets buried beneath the frozen earth, will she be able to find the killer before they claim their next victim?The Angel Maker is back and a plan twenty years in the making is already in motion.Angel Maker is the fourth novel in the Jamie Johansson series, and the first novel in the DI Jamie Johansson series. A great new addition for existing fans while new readers can sink their teeth into a case that will force Jamie to use all of the skills and knowledge she’s learned as a detective.This books sees Jamie who has been on administrative leave following her latest case which brought her promotion to DI (case can be read about in book 3 of the DS Jamie Johansson series). Unsure what she is going to do next, unsure if she is ready to return to her job in the Met even though she has been cleared to return, she has been spending time in Machir Bay.Meanwhile in Stockholm it appears that a serial killer from 2 decades ago is back. There’s just one problem, it was believed that the serial killer dubbed the Angel Maker had been caught and charged with him having recently passed away in prison.Enter Jamie, daughter of one of the detectives who worked the original case. With Jamie’s father having been dead for 17 years, the original case files missing, Jamie’s fathers partner from the original case having disappeared without a trace. Kriminalinspektör Anders Wiik with the Swedish Police Authority calls Jamie in to see if she can assist.Jamie returns to her childhood home where she hasn’t been for years. Kriminalinspektör Anders Wiik (the detective working the current case) is hoping Jamie’s father will have some notes from the original case. As Jamie begins to confront her childhood memories she finds herself consulting on the case.Was her father wrong all those years ago?Will Jamie be able to help solve this case before the Angel Maker can claim anymore victims?This book is filled with action and I really didn’t want to put it down. It is a great addition to the Jamie Johansson series which quickly became a favourite of mine.While I did miss the characters from the DS Jamie Johansson series it was lovely to meet new characters who I quickly came to love.Jamie remains the strong female character she has been throughout. I love that when she sets out to do something she never gives up even when her superiors tell her no.The story is unlike anything I have read before which made it all that more enjoyable. It ends with not 1 but 2 twists that I never saw coming. 1 relating to the case and the other that could change Jamie’s life forever.I highly recommend this series and can’t wait for future instalments.

This might make a reasonable screenplay for that Saturday night slot on BBC4. But I didn't find it that rewarding a read.It has the interesting premise of Swedish Met Police officer returning to country of her birth to find that a twenty-year-old case her now-deceased father solved has resurfaced.But as new leads are followed there are a few unlikely shoot outs (the heroine must always survive, of course, I mean there are already two further books in the series). There's a kind of double twist at the end, the first of which is baffling. It's not a spoiler but you'd need something pretty special to manipulate someone into carrying out the killings and subsequent placement of the bodies. And I'm not sure we ever convincingly get that. The second twist is more personal to the detective and was, to my mind, both believable and unexpected.So while this is not a bad addition to the Scandi noir canon it didn't get me yearning for book 2. An excerpt of which is included here and the idea of this pair of detectives trapped on an oil rig with an increasing body count didn't set the pulse racing. Although in fairness Vigil could be to blame for that.