The Shadow Woman
A Chief Inspector Erik Winter series, No 5

By Ake Edwardson
Translated by: Per Carlsson

        Great! Another talented writer from Sweden throws his hat in the ring. After the great success of Stieg Larsson and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”, Swedish authors seem to be in hot demand and if Ake Edwardson is a hint there is good reason for this.

“The Shadow Woman”, by Ake Edwardson is the fifth to be translated but is actually the second in the series featuring Erik Winter that has been translated to English and published in the United States.

Erik’s character is a Chief Inspector who is on vacation but getting rather weary of his time off. He is called back from his vacation to investigate the brutal attack on one of the local officers and the murder of a young woman during the local Gothenburg Party.

The young woman is found in a local park and above her head is a symbol painted in dark red.A symbol that no one recognizes. After an extensive search in which it seems the woman never existed, they discover the woman’s identity and tie her back to organized crime gangs in Sweden and Denmark and a brutal robbery she may have witnessed almost 20 years ago.

Is her death related to that crime long ago or something a bit closer in the future? Also where is her young child and what danger is it in?

Although the author is Swedish and some of the translation is a bit dull it is an excellent police procedural with wonderful character development. Another star in the crown of Sweden.