De kat die niet stierf

by Inger Frimansson, Tineke Jorissen-Wedzinga (Translator)

Beth en haar vriend Ulf brengen veel tijd door in een zomerhuisje buiten Stockholm. Uit een inrichting in de buurt ontsnappen twee patiënten. Als Beth op een dag een man in het schuurtje naast het huis aantreft, neemt ze aan dat het een van de ontsnapte patiënten is. Uit voorzorg pakt ze een bijl en als de man haar lijkt aan te willen vallen, slaat ze hem de schedel in. Onderweg naar de politie horen Beth en Ulf via de radio dat de mensen uit de inrichting zijn opgepakt. In paniek gaan ze terug naar het zomerhuisje en begraven het lijk. Beth lijkt niet onder verdenking te staan. Maar in de weken en maanden na de moord lijdt zij enorm onder haar schuldgevoel. Als een onbekende vrouw opbelt en meteen weer ophangt, komt daar nog de angst voor ontdekking bij. Wat volgt is een meeslepend psychologisch spel tussen dader en nabestaande.

Genres: Scandinavian Literature, Fiction, Thriller, Crime, Mystery, Psychological Thriller, Mystery Thriller

349 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Inger Frimansson is a popular Swedish novelist and crime writer. Having previously worked for 30 years as a journalist, her first novel The Double Bed (Dubbelsängen) was published in 1984. Since then she has written around twenty-five books including poetry, short stories, and books for children. Her breakthrough was with Godnatt, min älskade in 1998. Her crime novels are best described as psychological thrillers.

Reviews

[Franco Santos · Rating 3 out of 5]

¿Cómo reaccionarías si por un ataque de pánico asesinás a una persona?

Una pareja normal, con deseos, objetivos, problemas y alegrías terminan en una situación comprometedora, en una situación que los va a cambiar para siempre. Igner Frimansson explora la mente de Beth, una mujer que por accidente mató a un hombre. Ella, junto con su novio Ulf, toman la decisión de encubrir el cadáver. A medida que la trama va avanzando Igner nos narra la evolución de los protagonistas; cómo sobrellevan el ocultamiento del cuerpo y cómo conviven con ese peligroso secreto. Frimansson nos hace preguntar ¿qué haría yo en esa situación?

-Era, papá. Era. Ha cambiado. La persona con la que vives ahora no es la misma persona. Es ley de vida: cambiamos y nos transformamos.
-En el fondo somos los mismos, Beth.

Un thriller psicológico en su máximo esplendor. Muy recomendable.

No sé por qué tiene un avg rating tan bajo; no se lo merece.

-Es ley de vida -decía-. Así nos pasará a todos nosotros, de manera que aprovéchate y vive mientras puedas. Un buen día nos vamos todos a la mierda.

[Nike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vilken gastkramande spänning författaren långsamt och stadigt bygger upp. Mitt i vardagsrealismen leder en oförvägd handling till ett krampartat tryck över huvudpersonerna, som ett annalkande åskoväder som ligger kvar igenom hela berättelsen och mycket långsamt men oåterkalleligt kryper närmare och närmare tills man tycker sig kunna ta på det. Påminner i uppbyggnaden om Kerstin Ekmans "Händelser vid vatten".
Den är överraskande obehaglig och obehaget byggs upp med ytterst subtila grepp. Nu när jag läst ut den upptäcker jag att jag igen suttit och hållt andan under läsningen.

[Ken Fredette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well the cat didn't die in case you wanted to know. Things didn't work out with Beth. Anything that could go wrong did. I won't say more because it would give away the plot. It was a good story by the way.

[Mike Cuthbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a standard noir novel as there is not a speck of a detective or inspector around. What we have is a couple, Ulf and Beth, a summer place, an intruder and lots of cats. Though set mostly in Sweden, the last chapters of the book take place in Africa—the Serengeti and Masai areas. Ulf is a reporter along with Beth’s sister, Juni. There is another character, Kaarina, and her brother Holger, who are neighbors of Ulf and Beth. Though not the usual format for noir, the tension in the novel is real and constant as Beth finds an intruder in their garage and, after being attacked by him, hits him in the forehead with a shovel that does the job. Ulf helps her dig a grave for the nameless intruder and the guilt begins, especially when Beth finds a cross of pebbles on the grave. All the while, the cats keep multiplying and circling. Beth’s career as a teacher crashes around her ears as she suffers a panic attack in class one day and she takes time off to spend at the summer place. Eventually, she argues her way into a trip with Juni and Ulf to Africa for a series of stories, focusing on the Masai and the tale winds to a crushing conclusion. Throughout, with Beth’s seizures and recurring dreams about the grave and the killing and Ulf’s gradual pulling away from her, the wheels of suspense keep moving effectively and inevitably. Ultimately, what we have is noir of a distinctly different sort, but it is effective noir and does not wrench the format too much for belief. Not the usual gunfire and suspenseful chases that are standard in the genre, but I enjoyed the read nevertheless.

[Tzit · Rating 1 out of 5]

Para mí, la novela no merece ni una estrella. Tengo la mala costumbre de terminar el libro aunque no me guste pero después de leer este no voy a volver a sufrir con un libro. Para empezar no entendí por qué el primer capítulo está narrado desde el punto de vista de un gato ya que no aporta nada a la historia. Me dio la imprensión que la autora trató de que tuviera un papel importante porque un gato está presente a lo largo de ella. Otro punto es que odié a Beth, no logré entender cuál fue la motivación real para haber matado a Holger fuera de que "la trató de atacar" , cae mal en toda la historia y no me sentí para nada que fuera víctima de miedo porque la autora no consiguió transmitir esa sensación. Ulf es otro personaje que me pareció muy plano, sólo se la pasaba de mal humor y aunque participó en esconder el cuerpo, fue la única acción relevante en todo el libro. Y el final fue de lo peor.
No recomiendo leer este libro, en mi opinión.

[Ann Tonks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I stopped and started my way through this book. It's most interesting aspects are the impact that committing an unplanned crime has on a person's psychology. The worst aspects was a sojourn in Africa which makes little sense in terms of the relationships of the characters and the way the story develops. But I kept reading, engaged enough to find out what the result was to be.

[Therese Brink · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bad version of Crime and Punishment.

The cat had a very minor role in this book

[Jan Stiernelof]

ORKADE TILL SID 80

[Margaret · Rating 2 out of 5]

A library find. June 2024.
To dark for me.
I got no good feelings from this book.

[Lut Lahousse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goed geschreven, donker verhaal over de impact van een ongeplande moord op het leven van een koppel. Het einde komt wat onverwacht en vreemd over.

[jo ツ · Rating 2 out of 5]

wtf did I just read

[Gloria Feit · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel is as dark and cold as a Swedish winter. It is the bleak tale of a couple united by a bitter event that weighs on their relationship, slowly but surely melting it like snow in the spring thaw. The cause of this situation occurs when Beth Svard grabs and wields an axe to defend herself from a man she believes is about to strangle her, splitting his head open.

Then, instead of calling the police, perhaps obviating further repercussions, she and her partner, Ulf Nordin, decide to bury the man in an anonymous grave and return to Stockholm from their summer home and go on living as if nothing had happened. The rest of the novel recounts the psychological toll on the pair.


Unfortunately, the characters are two-dimensional, and we never really get to know them, just the symptoms, never the real persons. Ulf, and Beth’s sister, Juni, are free-lance journalists, yet we never read about how they develop their stories. Beth is a teacher, although we really don’t see her in the classroom, and she quickly has anxiety attacks and goes on leave. The translation seems dry, but apparently may be faithful to the original Swedish. It is an interesting effort, but this reader, at least, questions the conclusion. Perhaps another ending would have made it a more worthwhile read.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ik vond het een apart boek. Het begin vond ik interessant en na de moord zag je hoe Beth en Ulf hier op een andere manier mee om gingen. Ook kreeg ik de indruk dat Beth een psychische stoornis heeft, omdat veel dingen die ze zag, niet bewezen konden worden. De omslag naar het buitenland vond ik daarentegen raar. Als lezer kreeg ik de indruk dat de auteur vast hing met haar verhaal, er een plot twist in aanbracht en het verhaal afraffelde. Het einde vond ik dan ook erg raar en niet realistisch.
Mijn mening; geen aanrader helaas.

[Gerda · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was interesting to see how the murderess (although she didn't regard herself as one) and her husband both coped with the murder. On a whole, the story is rather depressing. It is either hot, or cold, or wet, never right. People are either hungry or not able to eat or drink. They aren't able to sleep (would you, if you used an axe to bash someones head?). Even without the murder, the lives described are depressing. I never know why I read books like this...

[refgoddess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is it the long winters that make Norse mystery writers so grim? This is a psychological murder mystery, where everyone and no one is guilty (except the eponymous Cat.) All connections are spurious, all actions doomed and violent, all people live isolated in their traumatized brains. I'm not sure I can make it through to the end: the murder comes up very soon in the book and the title assures me that the only creature I care about makes it.

[Barbpie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This psychological thriller is set in the Swedish countryside and in Africa. Unlike Justine Dalvik, the loveable psychopath “heroine” of two of Frimansson’s previous thrillers, the “heroine” of the Cat Did Not Die, Beth Svaerd, is a very nasty psychopath, who just keeps getting more twisted as the story progresses, but she has her reasons. The Cat Did Not Die is filled with fascinating characters and animals and races to its surprising but satisfying conclusion.

[Ari · Rating 3 out of 5]

This started nearly as a four start novel but flopped later nearly onto level two. Therefore "average" three stars in the end :-)

The African experience was somewhat out of place like an additional plot which has been clued on in order to make the story longer when other ideas had run out.

Anyway the novel was slighly different and not entirely without merits. Fast to read and interesting enough.


Kissa, joka ei kuollut

[JoAnne Spiller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This had been on my list for quite a while after seeing the title at a local bookstore. All the reviews on Amazon said to be surprised at the last two sentences - a shocker! I might have missed the point - I have spent all day trying to decide what they mean. Did I fall asleep during a crucial point and skip something???? Help!

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a moment of panic, a neurotic woman becomes an axe murderer, then spends the rest of the book in terror of being discovered. Inspired, perhaps, by Dostoevsky? This book is certainly not on the same literary plane, but it does lay on the psychological angst until the moment of discovery, which, frankly, came as a relief to me.

[Matt Cotton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. Darkly hilarious. I laughed often and after reading other reviews I thought, "God, What's wrong with me"?

[Laurie Frost · Rating 5 out of 5]

A creepy tale about the psychological disintegration of a woman who commits an unpremeditated murder. Somewhat like Minette Walters at her best, only swifter and tighter.

[Hazel Bartie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really loved up until it lost it's way a bit three quarters of the way through (would have been 4 stars up until then).

[Jane Bystry Weyers · Rating 2 out of 5]

Characters weren't believable, and the random trip to Africa late in the story felt contrived.

[Suki · Rating 4 out of 5]

An examination of the slow psychological disintegration of a woman after a terrible crime that she and her partner decide to cover up.

[Marjatta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suomeksi Tyttö ja kissa. Ihan ok.

[Riitta Perttunen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tavalliset ihmiset tekevät tavallisesta arjestaan vangitsevan painajaisen

Psykologisen trillerin kuningatar tutkii viileän tarkkaavaisesti tappajan mieltä ja näyttää, miten tavallisen ihmisen tavallinen elämä muuttuu hyytäväksi helvetiksi yhden väärän päätöksen takia.

Inger Frimansson on jälleen kirjoittanut piinaavan tarinan, jossa kuolema ja väkivalta tunkeutuvat tavallisten ihmisten elämään. Kissa joka ei kuollut on seitsemäs Frimanssonilta suomennettu dekkari.