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Inspector Winter #6
Een zeil van steen
Erik Winter, de eigenzinnige en enigszins snobistische hoofdinspecteur, speelt ook in de zesde thriller van Åke Edwardson de hoofdrol. De inspecteur brengt ditmaal een bezoek aan de Schotse Hooglanden, op verzoek van een vroegere jeugdliefde. Haar vader, Axel Oswald, is namelijk naar Schotland gegaan om zijn eigen vader te zoeken die daar tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog verdwenen is. Maar dan wordt het dode en naakte lichaam van Axel aangetroffen. Een moord? En wat hebben de brieven te betekenen ...
431 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2001
28 people are currently reading
649 people want to read
About the author
Åke Edwardson
68 books261 followersÅke Edwardson is a Swedish author of detective fiction, and a professor at Gothenburg University, the city where many of his Inspector Winter novels are set. Edwardson has had many jobs, including a journalist and press officer for the United Nations, and his crime novels have made him a three-time winner of the Swedish Crime Writers' Award for best crime novel. His first novel to be translated into English, in 2005, was Sun and Shadow. The second, Never End, followed in 2006.
Series:
* Inspector Winter
Series:
* Inspector Winter
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 102 reviews
July 14, 2012
I'm a big fan of Scandinavian crime novels and had high expectations from a three-time winner of the Swedish Crime Writers' award. Unfortunately, Sail of Stone disappointed in many ways.
While I like a minimalistic style, the writing in this book is too disjointed (perhaps a direct translation from the Swedish?). Paragraphs are mostly series of choppy, incomplete sentences. For example: "Franz dropped the pistol, then picked it up. Franz lost his balance. Then Franz was on his way out, a yard from the door. He reeled suddenly." Writing like this slows the pace to a crawl.
The dialogue is also quite stilted and repetitious. Characters often ask each other, "What do you mean?", then we get a repeat of what was already said. There's also a lot of one-word back-and-forth dialogue which strings out a simple conversation far too long.
Besides issues with the writing/translation, the plots, although intriguing in theory, are weak. Most of the space given to Aneta's storyline involves her running around trying to locate Anette, instead of advancing the plot. Those pages should have been spent expanding on the relationships among the characters, especially Anette, Susanne, and Forsblad.
There are also many weaknesses concerning John Osvald's storyline. Mainly (without giving anything away), why is everyone so angst-ridden about the past events? Axel's reaction seems particularly overwrought. I would have liked these actions/reactions to the past explored in more depth.
Despite the flaws, I wanted to finish the book to see how the various storylines resolved. Unfortunately I was disappointed by the ending as well. It felt as if a few chapters were missing. An open-ended resolution is fine as long as there are enough details to make educated guesses about the future. This ending just made me feel frustrated.
I'm not sure if I'll give Edwardson another try. If so, I'll go back the first Winter book and hope the writing and plot are tighter.
While I like a minimalistic style, the writing in this book is too disjointed (perhaps a direct translation from the Swedish?). Paragraphs are mostly series of choppy, incomplete sentences. For example: "Franz dropped the pistol, then picked it up. Franz lost his balance. Then Franz was on his way out, a yard from the door. He reeled suddenly." Writing like this slows the pace to a crawl.
The dialogue is also quite stilted and repetitious. Characters often ask each other, "What do you mean?", then we get a repeat of what was already said. There's also a lot of one-word back-and-forth dialogue which strings out a simple conversation far too long.
Besides issues with the writing/translation, the plots, although intriguing in theory, are weak. Most of the space given to Aneta's storyline involves her running around trying to locate Anette, instead of advancing the plot. Those pages should have been spent expanding on the relationships among the characters, especially Anette, Susanne, and Forsblad.
There are also many weaknesses concerning John Osvald's storyline. Mainly (without giving anything away), why is everyone so angst-ridden about the past events? Axel's reaction seems particularly overwrought. I would have liked these actions/reactions to the past explored in more depth.
Despite the flaws, I wanted to finish the book to see how the various storylines resolved. Unfortunately I was disappointed by the ending as well. It felt as if a few chapters were missing. An open-ended resolution is fine as long as there are enough details to make educated guesses about the future. This ending just made me feel frustrated.
I'm not sure if I'll give Edwardson another try. If so, I'll go back the first Winter book and hope the writing and plot are tighter.
December 22, 2012
I found this so tedious that I paged through it for the last 100 pages just to see the outcome. I am through with Ake Edwardson as each book I read is more turgid than the last. It's Hakan Nesser from here on in for me.
April 19, 2013
‘Sail of Stone’ is a Chief Inspector Erik Winter novel, one of a popular Swedish series recently translated into English. I enjoy reading Scandinavian novels. I like the experience of reading about such a different country from my own, and about people who are so like and yet different from me. This is a very Swedish novel, full of details and thoughts influenced by living where winter is long, dark, with little daylight, and summer days stretch on for ever. In the novel it’s autumn and winter threatens, darkness looms, and people remember the bad things and bad times. Introspection is the order of the day.
There are two threads to the plot, first, the disappearance of the son searching for his father who disappeared in Scotland during WWII. His daughter, an old friend and lover, is urging Chief Inspector Winter to help her find them both. Then there’s the thread involving immigrant police officer, Aneta Djanali, who finds herself trying to sort out a battered wife case which is extremely puzzling and frightening.
Readers who want a straightforward whodunit are going to be disappointed. This is a Swedish novel, with each character doing a lot of thinking about their life, their future, their past, a weighing up of sins and omissions. There’s a great deal of beautiful writing about the sea and its influences, the fishing communities, and Scotland. And interposed between the words is the music, Aneta’s African songs and Winter’s jazz, which are ‘heard’ as a counterpoint to the introspection and the menacing events growing out of past mistakes. Although the plot moves swiftly this is not a fast paced action whodunit and readers who expect this will be disappointed. Instead the novel is a fine piece of literary writing giving the reader much to think about as well as enjoy.
Aneta finds the battering husband, but is he? The wife’s family are secretive and unwilling to talk to her. She begins to feel stalked and threatened as she struggles to find the wife. Chief Inspector Winter contacts a British police inspector friend who has family in the Scottish town where the missing persons were last seen. The son is found dead. Winter flies to Scotland and uncovers a distressing story from the past which leads him and his inspector friend into a violent confrontation with a man from the past. Back in Sweden Aneta is facing a dangerous confrontation too. She thinks she has found the wife, but the husband and his sister are trying to stop her. For both Winter and Aneta there is no clear resolution to their cases and little redemption for those in need of it.
Don’t expect an easy read whodunnit here. Do expect a very different, thoughtful and thought provoking read. If you like a challenge and something different then ‘Sail of Stone’ by Åke Edwardson is the book for you.
April 17, 2012
The Edwardson style is straightforward and spare, even terse. Sometimes that style says too little, leaving the reader with questions of interpretation or wondering what she has missed. If you can live without everything being spelled out for you, you'll get much pleasure from this rather solemn book, one in a series set in Gothenburg, Sweden. Characters such as Erik Winter and Aneta Djanali , the principal investigators here, have great depth and seriousness; they truly have personalities and are not collections of stereotypes. What these two have in common in this book is emotional vacillation, an inability to commit to decisions that will affect the rest of their lives. What these two detectives also have in common in this particular novel is that they are each drawn into mysteries that are not really "cases" in the official sense. Winter is drawn in when he is contacted by a long ago girlfriend whose father may have gone missing; Djanali is drawn in by her curiosity about and wish to help a woman whom she believes has been abused. For a long time, it is unclear that a crime or crimes is involved in either mystery. Eventually, it is clear that crimes have been committed...but will we ever know what the crimes are? And will we know who is guilty of what? And in what sense can justice ever be served under such circumstances? Don't expect a neat ending, but do anticipate some beautiful, atmospheric writing about cities and small towns of the Scottish coast and many intriguing thoughts about the lives of fishermen and of lives lived on the sea.
Here is one striking passage about a third of the way through the book. Aneta is thinking about all the excuses for violence that she has heard over the years. Notice the way the ideas connect and move forward:
"Maybe it was true. He wanted to make good. It wouldn't happen again. But what had happened hadn't happened. Everything was a mistake, and mistakes were always other people's. Everything was a misunderstanding. The beatings were misunderstandings. Aneta had heard of so many misunderstandings during her career in the brotherhood. No one called it the sisterhood; that would have been absurd. She had heard of how language ceased and violence took over. Blows instead of words. The desperate and languageless hit. Men are hard and women are soft. Yes. They own, think they own, another person. Dominance. Complete control. A question of honor. In a twisted way, it was a question of honor. A form of honor. It existed here, too, in this fair-skinned country. It didn't belong only to medieval bastards from Farawayistan who murdered their daughters for the sake of their own honor."
It should be no surprise, from that pattern of development, that Edwardson (and Winter) is a fan of jazz and blues. In fact, at the end of the Kindle version of this book, there is a more interesting than usual interview with the author, who makes a succinct analogy between the "three chords" that form the foundation of blues songs and the "three chords" from which crime novels develop.
Here is one striking passage about a third of the way through the book. Aneta is thinking about all the excuses for violence that she has heard over the years. Notice the way the ideas connect and move forward:
"Maybe it was true. He wanted to make good. It wouldn't happen again. But what had happened hadn't happened. Everything was a mistake, and mistakes were always other people's. Everything was a misunderstanding. The beatings were misunderstandings. Aneta had heard of so many misunderstandings during her career in the brotherhood. No one called it the sisterhood; that would have been absurd. She had heard of how language ceased and violence took over. Blows instead of words. The desperate and languageless hit. Men are hard and women are soft. Yes. They own, think they own, another person. Dominance. Complete control. A question of honor. In a twisted way, it was a question of honor. A form of honor. It existed here, too, in this fair-skinned country. It didn't belong only to medieval bastards from Farawayistan who murdered their daughters for the sake of their own honor."
It should be no surprise, from that pattern of development, that Edwardson (and Winter) is a fan of jazz and blues. In fact, at the end of the Kindle version of this book, there is a more interesting than usual interview with the author, who makes a succinct analogy between the "three chords" that form the foundation of blues songs and the "three chords" from which crime novels develop.
September 17, 2012
The more you got into the story, the more rewarding it was. Both plots were interesting. I've read all Ake Edwardson's books so far and he hasn't let me down so far. Although his plots are complex there's a lot of stress put on his characters.
December 21, 2015
wat een bud boek
Read
May 12, 2024I found this to be a very frustratingly written book. It just didn’t work for me. I might write more when I am less annoyed for finishing it.
September 17, 2012
Chief Inspector Erik Winter of the Gothenburg police department is contacted by an ex-girlfriend whose father has disappeared. The missing man had received a note referring to the disappearance of his own father during the Second World War after his boat sank off the coast of Scotland. Winter assumes the missing man has travelled to Aberdeen to investigate his father’s disappearance, and despite his own family priorities, Winter becomes sucked into the case. Meanwhile, Detective Aneta Djnali investigates the disappearance of a woman whom she believes to have been abused by her husband. The woman’s family seem determined to prevent Aneta from investigating the disappearance and deny that there is a problem. As Eric and Aneta delve deeper into their respective cases, the secrets of families and the lengths they will go to ensure they they remain hidden becomes apparent.
This is a difficult book to review because the slow moving narrative made it hard to ever completely engage with the story. The account of Eric’s investigation and his travels to Scotland to look into the man’s disappearance was by far the most interesting aspect of the story. Although there are clearly links between Scotland and Scandinavia, Eric seems overwhelmed by the very strangeness of the place and looking at the granite city through a stranger’s eyes was fascinating.
In his investigations, Winter is reunited with the British policeman Steve MacDonald who has appeared in previous books. They have an easy going relationship based on mutual respect and although the resolution of the case was slightly unbelievable I still enjoyed it. The investigation undertaken by Aneta in Sweden was more difficult to engage with and without giving any spoilers, I was left perplexed by the whole incident at the end of the book.
This is a difficult book to review because the slow moving narrative made it hard to ever completely engage with the story. The account of Eric’s investigation and his travels to Scotland to look into the man’s disappearance was by far the most interesting aspect of the story. Although there are clearly links between Scotland and Scandinavia, Eric seems overwhelmed by the very strangeness of the place and looking at the granite city through a stranger’s eyes was fascinating.
In his investigations, Winter is reunited with the British policeman Steve MacDonald who has appeared in previous books. They have an easy going relationship based on mutual respect and although the resolution of the case was slightly unbelievable I still enjoyed it. The investigation undertaken by Aneta in Sweden was more difficult to engage with and without giving any spoilers, I was left perplexed by the whole incident at the end of the book.
November 20, 2012
Inspector Winter series is fantastic, and this book is no exception.
Brilliant characters, and not just the world class inspector himself, but his teammates (especially Aneta, an afro-Swedish detective) and the people involved and being investigated. Complex plots, strong sense of places and history, and an atmosphere thick enough to need a knife to cut it.
And now I want to visit the places mentioned in Scotland, and try some of the Scotch mentioned...
There were two main stories being investigated, and while they developed hand in hand, at times they seemed a bit too separate.
Some of the dialogs were a bit odd every now and then, but it's perhaps down to people saying different things in different languages. It's not how you'd say something in Swedish, but what you'd say instead. Not in a bad way, as it fit the characters. And it's definitely the characters who set the pace in the book. Just like it should be.
Brilliant characters, and not just the world class inspector himself, but his teammates (especially Aneta, an afro-Swedish detective) and the people involved and being investigated. Complex plots, strong sense of places and history, and an atmosphere thick enough to need a knife to cut it.
And now I want to visit the places mentioned in Scotland, and try some of the Scotch mentioned...
There were two main stories being investigated, and while they developed hand in hand, at times they seemed a bit too separate.
Some of the dialogs were a bit odd every now and then, but it's perhaps down to people saying different things in different languages. It's not how you'd say something in Swedish, but what you'd say instead. Not in a bad way, as it fit the characters. And it's definitely the characters who set the pace in the book. Just like it should be.
August 7, 2015
400 pages and the conclusion is as vague as the rest of the book. I don't care for the author's style of writing. The only good thing about the book is the relationships among the continuing characters.
August 5, 2022
I'm making my way in order through Ake Edwardson's Inspector Winter series and I sincerely hope "Sail of Stone" is an aberration. The series seems to be losing momentum as it moves forward and as the once youthful Inspector Winter ages.
Sail of Stone has two plots bouncing back and forth. The main one involves an old flame of Winter's whose father has disappeared in Scotland during a quest to discover how his father really died on a boat that sunk off the coast during WWII. Her father had received a mysterious letter, quickly made his way across the water to Scotland, and she'd not heard from him since. She leverages her previous relationship with Winter to get an investigation moving. The second plot involves a younger detective, Aneta, getting wrapped up in what seems to be a domestic violence beef, except the supposed victim won't talk or even allow the police to see her injuries. Nobody in the victim's circle of friends and relatives seems willing to cooperate (however, they're very willing to lie), but Aneta just won't let go as her 'boyfriend' and fellow detective Halders provides some assistance.
In general, the writing is competent (a translation) but the pace of the book moves very slowly. It became a bit more interesting to me as Winter's investigation led him across the sea to a part of Scotland I'd previously visited. Neither plot wrapped up nicely and I usually like a cleaner conclusion than Sail of Stone provided. I think I'll try one more in the Winter series and bail if no improvement is noted.
Sail of Stone has two plots bouncing back and forth. The main one involves an old flame of Winter's whose father has disappeared in Scotland during a quest to discover how his father really died on a boat that sunk off the coast during WWII. Her father had received a mysterious letter, quickly made his way across the water to Scotland, and she'd not heard from him since. She leverages her previous relationship with Winter to get an investigation moving. The second plot involves a younger detective, Aneta, getting wrapped up in what seems to be a domestic violence beef, except the supposed victim won't talk or even allow the police to see her injuries. Nobody in the victim's circle of friends and relatives seems willing to cooperate (however, they're very willing to lie), but Aneta just won't let go as her 'boyfriend' and fellow detective Halders provides some assistance.
In general, the writing is competent (a translation) but the pace of the book moves very slowly. It became a bit more interesting to me as Winter's investigation led him across the sea to a part of Scotland I'd previously visited. Neither plot wrapped up nicely and I usually like a cleaner conclusion than Sail of Stone provided. I think I'll try one more in the Winter series and bail if no improvement is noted.
September 3, 2022
This book had me very involved in Eric Winter and Aneta Djanali's relationships to their futures and their pasts. It seems to me that this book was less about the crimes than about the characters. It was a welcome respite from the anxiousness I would feel in the ultimate solving of the crimes. The respite being that I cared that they would emerge safe and whole despite the obvious trauma of tragic events. The flipping back and forth style that is Edwardson's best idea makes the reader review mentally whose point of view is being expressed and keeps you looking forward to the next bit of exposition. This was a very deep novel with lots of philosophizing and a bit of religious fervor.
August 25, 2019
Interesting and disappointing at the same time. The story does not tell what happenend, not during the war and not at present in Scottland. Too much is kept in the dark.
It is a thriller and a good one needs a plot that becomes clear at the end. It is not a quiz where the readers may guess, and if they do they are not told whether they are right or not. The reader is just as guessing as inspector Winter and his wife. That is not very satisfying. I am sorry to say so because I like Edwardson's thrillers a lot!
It is a thriller and a good one needs a plot that becomes clear at the end. It is not a quiz where the readers may guess, and if they do they are not told whether they are right or not. The reader is just as guessing as inspector Winter and his wife. That is not very satisfying. I am sorry to say so because I like Edwardson's thrillers a lot!
March 10, 2020
I’ve read other books by the author and rather enjoyed them.
This, however, is awful.
Two stories gradually unfold: one involves a Swedish ship sinking during WWII, the other involves domestic abuse.
Is either story resolved? Um, sort of. Maybe. I guess. Not really. Oh well.
I’m not looking for pat answers to every question a book raises but, my goodness, something even resembling something approaching a resolution would be nice.
And the gratuitous pregnancy tossed in at the end?
Give. Me. A. Break.
This, however, is awful.
Two stories gradually unfold: one involves a Swedish ship sinking during WWII, the other involves domestic abuse.
Is either story resolved? Um, sort of. Maybe. I guess. Not really. Oh well.
I’m not looking for pat answers to every question a book raises but, my goodness, something even resembling something approaching a resolution would be nice.
And the gratuitous pregnancy tossed in at the end?
Give. Me. A. Break.
June 5, 2022
I always think the last book was the best and I guess it is. I really enjoyed this novel. So many things to try to pay attention to, but things do not get revealed to you until the time they are revealed to Inspector Winter and those he is investigating with.
This novel takes a different turn with a man missing since WWII and the family that never knew him. A great unraveling takes place. Meanwhile another mystery is being worked. I am not sure I even understood how that one ended, if it did.
This was a good read.
This novel takes a different turn with a man missing since WWII and the family that never knew him. A great unraveling takes place. Meanwhile another mystery is being worked. I am not sure I even understood how that one ended, if it did.
This was a good read.
Read
August 4, 2023Die Geschichte war nicht so ganz meins, vor allem, weil ich mit dem Stil nicht viel anfangen konnte. Irgendwie war ich dann doch neugierig, wie die beiden Geschichten zusammenhängen. Ab einem gewissen Punkt wusste ich auch ungefähr, wie die Geschichte(n) ausgehen würden, von daher hat mich der Schluss auch nicht mehr überrascht. Es ist ist ein Krimi für Jazz- und Whiskyliebhaber. Ich mag Whisky sehr gerne, aber auch das hat das Buch für mich nicht wirklich gerettet.
May 20, 2018
This was such an unpleasant read. I am so disappointed as the earlier booked in the series were wonderful.
I wonder if it has something to do with the translation. This was the first time this translator had done one of these books and it made such a difference to the flow and ebb of the story. She also translated "mum" as "mom" and this annoyed me because even if she is American or Canandian or South African all the previous translations used "mum". Would it have killed her to be consistent?
However the story itself was awkward to say the least. There were actually two story lines that had nothing to do with each other and neither were satisfactorily resolved.
I'll try the next book, which seems to be the last translated, but if it's as rubbish as this book, I'm finished. It's the same translator which doesn't bode well...
I wonder if it has something to do with the translation. This was the first time this translator had done one of these books and it made such a difference to the flow and ebb of the story. She also translated "mum" as "mom" and this annoyed me because even if she is American or Canandian or South African all the previous translations used "mum". Would it have killed her to be consistent?
However the story itself was awkward to say the least. There were actually two story lines that had nothing to do with each other and neither were satisfactorily resolved.
I'll try the next book, which seems to be the last translated, but if it's as rubbish as this book, I'm finished. It's the same translator which doesn't bode well...
October 25, 2022
Itse tarina, tai tarinat, ovat ok, joskin kumpikaan tapaus ei varsinaisesti tässä kirjassa vielä selviä. Suomenkielinen pokkariversio oli kuitenkin karannut painoon valitettavan viimeistelemättömänä, mikä nostaa verenpainetta ja laskee tähtien määrää.
December 21, 2022
The writing is so disjointed I found it too difficult to read. Towards the later parts I skipped pages to the conclusion. The second investigation with Aneta was just a filler with no plot and no investigation. I don’t think I would be trying another book by this author
January 28, 2025
Goed verhaal. Eigenlijk 2 verhalen, waarvan een in Schotland belandt.
Voor mij aangename schrijfstijl.
Erik Winter, de whisky liefhebber, kan zijn hart ophalen, samen met Schotse collega.
Uit deze serie wil ik meer lezen.
Voor mij aangename schrijfstijl.
Erik Winter, de whisky liefhebber, kan zijn hart ophalen, samen met Schotse collega.
Uit deze serie wil ik meer lezen.
April 25, 2019
Is een leuke reeks met Erik Winter
July 5, 2019
Moeilijk leesbare wollige tekst. Wel spannende verhaallijnen.
March 15, 2020
Mediocre. Less of a mystery and more of a travelogue of Sweden and Scotland. And the sea don’t forget the sea.
May 8, 2021
DNF. I liked the story idea, but not the writing style. Couldn't do it.
April 8, 2022
I had no idea what was happening. I still barely have any idea what happened.
May 28, 2025
I found it a little hard to follow, but it was interesting enough to finish.
December 30, 2024
The author either thinks he is writing literature or being paid per word.
August 17, 2017
I have enjoyed the Erik Winter mysteries, but felt this one was very disjointed and choppy. Hopefully this is just due to the translation.
July 23, 2012
In Sail of Stone Ake Edwardson explores crime in the family to determine when an event deserves notice by the police in Gothenburg, Sweden. In one case, neighbors report that a woman has been abused; in another, a daughter reports that her father has gone missing in Scotland.
Detectives Erik Winter and Aneta Djanali are independently, and for personal reasons, separately investigating these crimes that have barely bubbled to the surface. Both inspectors give their cases an undue amount of time and energy. What we see is police scut work, and an obsession with damage control and prevention. Winter takes advantage of INTERPOL and of a Scottish colleague to begin the search for the father of a former flame whose whole sea-faring family is somewhat tainted by the disappearance during World War II of their then young patriarch. At the same time, Winter is struggling to settle down to a balanced domestic life. As a woman, Aneta Djanal is offended and mystified by not being able to set eyes on another woman whose neighbors have reported that she's been abused. Like Winter, Djanali is also trying to figure out her relationship with the man who is her official and romantic partner. In their personal and professional pursuits, inspectors Djanali and Winter, as different as they can be, one at the top of the social scale and the other a Swedish-born child of African immigrants, afford a panoptic view of the pleasures and problems of Swedish society.
Later: this is the slowest-moving "mystery" novel I have ever read. By the end of the novel, after some violence erupts, one of the "crimes" seems to have been solved, but the other does not. There is a lot of description of places in Scotland, so vivid I could remember the places where I had been. Edwardson has said that in his novels he seeks to balance the Bildungsroman aspect with the suspense, but here the scenery as well as the portraits of detective Erik Winter and of his counterpart Aneta Djanali do slow down the movement, making for an annoyingly slow read.
Detectives Erik Winter and Aneta Djanali are independently, and for personal reasons, separately investigating these crimes that have barely bubbled to the surface. Both inspectors give their cases an undue amount of time and energy. What we see is police scut work, and an obsession with damage control and prevention. Winter takes advantage of INTERPOL and of a Scottish colleague to begin the search for the father of a former flame whose whole sea-faring family is somewhat tainted by the disappearance during World War II of their then young patriarch. At the same time, Winter is struggling to settle down to a balanced domestic life. As a woman, Aneta Djanal is offended and mystified by not being able to set eyes on another woman whose neighbors have reported that she's been abused. Like Winter, Djanali is also trying to figure out her relationship with the man who is her official and romantic partner. In their personal and professional pursuits, inspectors Djanali and Winter, as different as they can be, one at the top of the social scale and the other a Swedish-born child of African immigrants, afford a panoptic view of the pleasures and problems of Swedish society.
Later: this is the slowest-moving "mystery" novel I have ever read. By the end of the novel, after some violence erupts, one of the "crimes" seems to have been solved, but the other does not. There is a lot of description of places in Scotland, so vivid I could remember the places where I had been. Edwardson has said that in his novels he seeks to balance the Bildungsroman aspect with the suspense, but here the scenery as well as the portraits of detective Erik Winter and of his counterpart Aneta Djanali do slow down the movement, making for an annoyingly slow read.
April 2, 2012
Another First Reads win and a almost-new-to-me author; looking forward to another Scandinavian adventure. The book arrived today, the 21st and the reading begins!
This is the second Erik Winter book I have read and thanks to First Reads Giveaway I was happy to sample Ake Edwardson's series again. As with the first one, I found this book heavy with atmosphere but populated with interesting, likeable characters. Sail of Stone contains two mysteries. Both are infused with family dynamics and betrayals. Aneta Djanali, an Afro-Swedish policewoman, is trying to solve one involving domestic violence. Erik Winter, the protagonist of the series, is asked to investigate a disappearance related to another disappearance dating from WWII. Both of these characters are developed well and easy to care about. The reader is shown the enigmatic world of commercial fishermen in Scandinavia and Scotland, both now and during WWII. Likewise, the reader is immersed in modern-day Gothenburg. Poetry, American jazz and rock, African music and a look at modern society in Scotland and Sweden enrich the story line. Even though it is a crime story it is a multicultural, nuanced novel.
According to the author interview included in my copy, Edwardson feels there are "three chords in a crime novel: mystery, search for answers and solution." However, after I finished the book I felt the character Aneta sums up my view more closely. She says, "We don't know from question to question and answer to answer where we'll end up. But maybe we'll end up somewhere." Sail of Stone ends with unanswered questions and lingering mystery without a tidy solution. However, Erik Winter's world is a destination where I will happily end up again.
This is the second Erik Winter book I have read and thanks to First Reads Giveaway I was happy to sample Ake Edwardson's series again. As with the first one, I found this book heavy with atmosphere but populated with interesting, likeable characters. Sail of Stone contains two mysteries. Both are infused with family dynamics and betrayals. Aneta Djanali, an Afro-Swedish policewoman, is trying to solve one involving domestic violence. Erik Winter, the protagonist of the series, is asked to investigate a disappearance related to another disappearance dating from WWII. Both of these characters are developed well and easy to care about. The reader is shown the enigmatic world of commercial fishermen in Scandinavia and Scotland, both now and during WWII. Likewise, the reader is immersed in modern-day Gothenburg. Poetry, American jazz and rock, African music and a look at modern society in Scotland and Sweden enrich the story line. Even though it is a crime story it is a multicultural, nuanced novel.
According to the author interview included in my copy, Edwardson feels there are "three chords in a crime novel: mystery, search for answers and solution." However, after I finished the book I felt the character Aneta sums up my view more closely. She says, "We don't know from question to question and answer to answer where we'll end up. But maybe we'll end up somewhere." Sail of Stone ends with unanswered questions and lingering mystery without a tidy solution. However, Erik Winter's world is a destination where I will happily end up again.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 102 reviews