De nacht van het vuur

Ann Lindell #11

by Kjell Eriksson, Marika Otte (translator)

Ann Lindell heeft haar baan bij de politie eigenlijk al vaarwelgezegd, maar wanneer het oude schoolgebouw in haar zogenaamd rustige nieuwe woonplaats in Uppland afbrandt en daarbij drie asielzoekers omkomen, neemt ze het vastgelopen onderzoek op eigen initiatief over en voorziet ze haar ex-collega Sammy van informatie uit het dorp. Hoewel geen van de buren beweert iets gezien te hebben, twijfelt Ann er niet aan dat een extreemrechtse groep achter de brandstichting zit. Dan is er weer een brand – maar deze keer is het slachtoffer een jonge Zweedse vrouw...

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Suspense, Nordic Noir, Scandinavian Literature, Procedural

454 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 22, 2019

About the author

Karl Stig Kjell Eriksson is a Swedish crime-writer, author of the novels The Princess of Burundi and The Cruel Stars of the Night, the former of which was awarded the Swedish Crime Writers' Academy Best Swedish Crime Novel Award in 2002. They have both recently been translated into English by Ebba Segerberg.

Series:
* Ann Lindell Mystery

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Night of the Fire" is the eleventh book in the Ann Lindell series, although the eighth novel translated in English. Set in the countryside outside of Stockholm, Ann Lindell is now Retired detective, making cheese and living in a small cottage with few neighbors. It's a small insular town where the locals don't say too much. But, even retirement and country living can't keep crime problems from Lindell. There are badgers with meat cleavers stuck in them rotting in her bed. There are deadly fires set at a school where immigrants gathered. There is a fire at a local's house where another body turns up. And, a band of neo-Nazis gathering bombs. A quiet retirement is not in the cards.

Much of the story is told through Lindell's point of view, but much is also told through her ex-colleague Sammy's viewpoint. Much of the book is slower-paced rather than action packed and there are times when the reader has to pay close attention as numerous characters appear and seemingly small points are focused on. It's definitely Scandinavian in character and quiet, cold, distant in mood.

[Elizabeth of Silver's Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who started the fire that killed three people?

Someone knows but isn’t telling. Then there is another fire.

​​Ann Lindell a retired policewoman who moved to the country for some peace and quiet finds out that it isn’t all that peaceful in the country.

Even though she isn’t a policewoman any longer, she feels compelled to look into the investigation. ​​What’s funny is that someone who didn’t identify himself called her at the police station and asked for her after the first fire.​​

The investigation moves on and one of the suspects is found dead after a second fire. With that lead being gone now, their investigation starts again and down a different route.​​

I really liked Ann even though Sammy took up most of the book’s investigation time.

THE NIGHT OF THE FIRE was a different read and a bit slow for me because of the setting and the names of the characters, but it was interesting.​​

I did like the mystery and the unraveling of it, but not sure I would read another in this series.

I may have been a bit lost since it was the first one I read in the series, but I did like most of the characters, and the writing is well done.​​

Thank you to St. Martin’s for giving me a chance to get to know these characters. 3.5/5

​​This book was given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.​

[Silvie Klokgieter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ann Lindell heeft ontslag heeft genomen bij de afdeling Geweldsdelictenn in Uppsala en is een nieuwe carrière begonnen als kaasmaker in het afgelegen Rasbo. Dan belt een onbekende man Lindells voormalige kantoor en staat erop haar te spreken. Hij zegt dat zij "de enige is die luistert" en voegt eraan toe dat "er iemand dood kan gaan".

Voordat de boodschap Lindell bereikt, sterft er een vrouw in de brand die een oude school in Rasbo volledig in as legt. Het gebouw wordt gebruikt om politieke en oorlogsvluchtelingen te huisvesten. Hoewel de onderzoekers geen sluitend bewijs vinden, is men het erover eens dat het brandstichting was. Lindell voelt zich tot de zaak aangetrokken, zelfs als ze het doelwit is van een onbekende vijand, die een opengesneden dode das in haar bed achterlaat...

'De nacht van het vuur' is het elfde deel van de serie met Ann Lindell in de hoofdrol. Ik had nog geen enkel voorgaand deel gelezen, dus ik was benieuwd of het verhaal mij zou gaan bevallen.

Het duurde een hele tijd voordat ik een beetje in het verhaal zat. Nu weet ik niet zeker of dit door de schrijfstijl kwam, of omdat ik misschien voorgaande informatie over de verschillende personages miste. Ook moet ik zeggen dat ik het verhaal redelijk traag op gang vond komen.

De flaptekst sprak mij enorm aan, maar ik moet eerlijk zijn: dit verhaal viel mij toch een klein beetje tegen. Ik denk dat ik er gewoon meer van had verwacht. Overigens heb ik geen vergelijkingsmateriaal, aangezien dit het eerste deel was dat ik van deze serie las.

Ik weet dan ook niet of dit gewoon net even een minder deel is, of dat de hele serie redelijk traag is. Het is ook allemaal best gedetailleerd en uitgebreid beschreven, dus daar moet je ook maar net van houden.

Voor mij stopt het in ieder geval om deze serie verder te lezen, sorry uitgeverij. Maar ik wil @uitgeverijdegeus natuurlijk heel erg bedanken voor het recensie-exemplaar.
Hopelijk een volgende keer beter!

Laat je overigens absoluut niet door mijn recensie tegenhouden hè, het blijft tenslotte een kwestie van smaak.

Beoordeling: 2,5 ⭐️

[Kathy B · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.25/5.If it wouldn't mean I'd have yet another shelf with only a few books on it in my Goodreads shelves, I would add one with the moniker "very disappointing book I had looked forward to". If it hadn't had a fairly decent ending it would be in the 1 star range. I had so looked forward to this book and I toiled to get through it. At times I thought "just give it up! This is torture and boring!" Yet I slogged on, and was rewarded with a decent ending. I don't know if I felt this way because it wasn't the first book in the series and I didn't have an opportunity to become invested in the characters, but I found most of them kind of irritating and uninteresting. There were too many pauses and it took too long to get to the point. Some may call it measured prose; I label it tedious.

[Sharyn Berg · Rating 1 out of 5]

I felt like there was not enough backstory or character development in this book and as a result I began the story confused and ended it in the same manner. I didn’t realize this was one of a large series of books when I began reading it, so that, and all the references to Swedish names, places, and things added to my inability to follow along. The book ended with a
set-up for the next book in the series, which is also a turn off to me. I would not recommend this book to anyone and I was extremely thankful when I reached the end. Thank you NetGalley for the advance read copy.

[Dimitris Passas (TapTheLine) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first acquaintance with Kjell Eriksson's pen and the experience was more than gratifying. In the past, I started reading another novel of his, The Cruel Stars of the Night, but I quickly dismissed it as tedious and slow-paced, even though I haven't read more than 100 pages. In hindsight, this was a big mistake as the Swedish author takes his time in building complex plotlines, three-dimensional characters, and a certain level of suspense in his work. The same happens in The Night of the Fire, the latest installment in his Ann Lindell series that tackles the issue of racism and xenophobia in contemporary Swedish society, and more specifically in the Swedish countryside. The setting of the book is the little village of Tilltorp which happens to be the place where the protagonist, ex-police-detective Ann Lindell, now resides after her retirement from the Violent Crimes Unit in the town of Uppsala. The reader has to keep in mind that Sweden is one of the many European countries where far-right parties gained significant power during the last few decades and let's not forget Stieg Larsson's investigation on Swedish neo-nazis as the founder of the Swedish Expo Organization that subsequently led to the publication of the notorious Expo magazine in 1995. One of the major subjects of his research was the Swedish Democrats, a nationalist party founded in 1988 which polled 17.5% in the 2018 Swedish general election, securing 62 seats in parliament, becoming the third-largest party in Sweden. The party's representatives often express anti-immigrant views and it is considered to be the cornerstone of xenophobia in the country's political scene.

To read my full review visit https://tapthelinemag.com/post/the-ni...

[Ken Fredette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kjell Eriksson starts out with Regina Rosenberg, who was a new hire at the police station wanting to know who Ann Lindell was, not knowing that she was a retired cop and took a message. This leads to Ann, once she gets the message to review the only policemen that she knows now. Then there is a fire burning up the local school that was to be a place for foreign people to live in. Killing people at the time. Ann is happy she's no longer a policeman and is now processing cheese part time. But she's still getting leads into her community. A couple of days later a fire erupts at a local farm killing a girl not known to the police, and a boy is found beat up a few feet away from the fire. At the same time there are individuals who are Nazi's, who are thinking of blowing up different cities. Ann gets all the leads for each of these acts and passes them on to Sammy Nilsson, this is 5 months down the road. Eriksson has fun with all the action that is going on and makes Ann the obvious person for everyone to talk to. During this time she has a dead animal left in her bed, has dead pigeons left in her mail box, and then a pole was shoved through her window. Things come to a head with people being killed on the good and bad sides. Ann takes off with her boyfriend to Portugal and may meet her next action. I gave this 4 out of 5 stars.

[Karen M · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is something about Nordic based mysteries that just draw me in. There always seems to be an underlying darkness. The ones I’ve read always have flawed police detectives whose lives seem lonely and a bit sad and this book is no exception with one difference, one of our detectives is retired.

Ann, a retired Swedish Police Inspector is drawn into the investigation of a crime because of where she lives, a tiny dying village with clannish inhabitants who choose to not to deal with what is happening around them but just to go on with their lives. She was already quietly interested in the local crime, an arson, and then she is contacted by her former partner who misses her instincts when it comes to solving cases and she will need all her instincts since even her closest neighbors prefer to pretend that nothing has happened.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the complex characters and the equally complex storyline. Not all of the books in this series have been translated into English but I hope I will be able to read a few more of this series.

I won this book in a First Reads giveaway. Thank you to Minotaur Press and the author Kjell Eriksson.

[Wayward Readers Book Blog · Rating 3 out of 5]

A typical Nordic noir with a paced plot and somewhat flawed, unreliable narrator. The plot line is intricate and well written with intriguing complexity in characterization. The narrative is ultimately a crime fiction with a focus on discrimination, racism, and some current political events. Whether it was the translation to English or that this novel was the eleventh in the series, it took a bit to become engaged.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC of #TheNightofTheFire which was read and reviewed voluntarily. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

#readreviewrepeat #bookstagram #bookblogging #bookish #booklove #nordicnoirs #crimefiction

[Susan G]

DNF

[Celeste Miller]

This is the 8th or 9th book in a Swedish murder mystery series, but it's the first one I've read.
A few years ago I went though a phase where I read tons of Nordic noir and loved it. So having the chance to read this was fun.
One of the main characters, Ann Lindell, is retired from the police force but getting involved in a mystery in the small village she moved to. I could tell while reading the book that a lot of hints from previous books were being thrown in. I think you could jump in to this series like I did, but it would be better to start at the beginning. She has a drinking problem and an iffy relationship (sound like most Nordic noir?). She is on decent terms with her new village neighbors but someone is threatening her with notes to stay out of the investigation.
Sometimes the writing was confusing and I had to wonder if I would have understood if I were Swedish. Or perhaps it got lost in translation.
One of the main themes of the book is neo-Nazism and white supremacy groups who hate the recent Muslim immigrants. If you're uncomfortable reading characters who are obviously and unapologetically racist you may want to read elsewhere.
Overall a good Swedish murder mystery that gives you the feel of small town Sweden.

[Coalbanks · Rating 3 out of 5]

An update on the team that worked many cases before Ann Lindell retired to live in the country. The characters have not remained stuck in time, they have aged, matured, changed for good and not so good, some have died, others retired. The problems have not gotten easier with more social tensions than a decade ago. Lindell reconnects as she receives information about recent crimes and plots of more to come from old informants and local friends who have slowly come to trust her enough to confide their suspicions to her without going to the police. All in all a good revival of the old team with changes to roles, leadership.

[Deb Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a broad generalization, Nordic noir/crime/mystery stories are slow boilers when compared to American fiction and even like fiction coming from the U.K. It can take some patience for readers to wait for the development of the stories and their suspense, but in my opinion, that patience is well-rewarded. That is true of Eriksson's The Night of the Fire.

This book is the eighth in the Ann Lindell series that has been translated into English. It's my introduction to this writer and his characters. Now I look forward to starting at the beginning of the series and working my way through.

[Arianna Mclaughlin (arianna.reads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m a big fan of Nordic Noir and was really intrigued by the plot of this one - a story that takes a retired police officer living in a small town into the midst of crimes that focus on discrimination, racism, immigration and other current issues.

The plot is complex and full of details. For me, it was too focused on these small details and I struggled to keep engaged.

I think this is a book that’s best enjoyed when you’ve read the others in the series.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC to read and review.

[Elvy Netzel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trevligt återseende av Ann Lindell!
Kjell Eriksson väver in vardagsbestyren i byn Tilltorp där Ann numer bor och jobbar i mejeriet sedan hon sa upp sig från polisen.
Efter att skolan bränts ner vid nyåret får vi följa hur främlingsfientligheten och egoismen slagit rot i byn. Ingen talar öppet om det, men det finns där.
Men det finns även de med humana tankar både bland bybor och polisen!
En bok som engagerar och känns både realistisk och engagerande. Hur människor som känner sig i samhällets periferi tar till våld för att visa sitt missnöje.
Läsvärd, både spännande och tankeväckande!

[Katarina Parneby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Så glad att Ann är tillbaka i Uppland. Och Kjell.

[Mike Stafford · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will start with the confession I was not familiar with the Ann Lindell Mystery series by Kjell Eriksson. As a result, I did not know what to expect from The Night of the Fire. I was pleased to discover a fine work by another wonderful Swedish writer. The subject matter is certainly topical for our times and, based upon what I've seen in Scandinavian television series. issues many countries have faced. Lindell is a fascinating character and this book left me wanting to learn more of her story from the previous mysteries. I think readers who are already familiar with the cast of characters have an advantage over those like me.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ann is now retired and living in the country. This book was like an unexpected gift - I thought the series was wrapped up. It was great to get updates on Ann and Erik, as well as Sammy.

It was difficult to keep track of all the new characters that were introduced. While I had an idea of the direction the mystery was going to take, the details weren’t clear until the end.

The book moved a little slow, and some of the town/city contrasts could have been more subtle. But overall, it’s a good read and could stand alone. I think the series is back!

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dense thought and little action😒

2.5🌟stars
This story lost me fairly early because there's constant allusion to events that take place outside of the story. I had never read an Ann Lindell murder mystery; had I done, maybe some of the comments would have made some sense.

I thought the opening was a good one, a probable hate crime against immigrants, but then that case remains up in the air and Sammy, the main detective, spends more time swinging on his former colleague's hammock and fixating on his rocky marriage than nabbing the criminals as the murders and mischief pile up.

There's minimal action or what I expect in a police procedural and a lot of concentration on the personal lives and marginally relevant thoughts of Sammy, Ann and her neighbors.

I normally love Scandinavian noir but I had to force myself to get sixty percent of this story read before I gave up because I just could not care about Ann and Sammy's efforts and activities. In all good conscience, there's no justification for a higher rating for a story I don't like enough to finish.

Thanks to publishers Minotaur Books and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.

[AndieK69 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure if the translation from Swedish to English was the main problem, but I had a hard time getting through this book - took me much longer than it should have, but every time I picked it up I could only read a couple of pages before I was bored and tired of keeping up with so many names. Found it disappointing.

[Megan Paz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled to get through this book. The book is broken up into small sections so the flow feels harsh and interrupted. The development of the story was also rough and not explained well, which often left me feeling confused. Then the ending was anti-climatic and left me feeling disappointed.

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found it to be a bit slow. Lots of characters with different names. I thought it was a bit confusing at times.

[Peter · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unreadable. I just gave up.

[Sabine · Rating 3 out of 5]

De schrijfstijl lag mij niet echt. Veel verschillende personages met veel achtergrondinformatie, details en uitweidingen over van alles en nog wat.

Geen boek voor mij. Helaas.

[AC · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the eleventh book in the Ann Lindell series and the eighth to be translated to English for those of us (like me) who generally love Nordic noir.

The titular night of the fire is how this entry to the Ann Lindell series begins: an abandoned schoolhouse, used as temporary housing for immigrants goes up in flames, rapidly running out of control and decimating the building, killing several immigrants in the process. There are several characters introduced - one an immigrant, who ran from the building, one an old man who saw who set the blaze, but does not tell the authorities, etc.

My biggest gripe and level of disgust came when the story indicated Swedes from the area made no attempt to do anything about the fire. According to the man who saw the arsonists, they stood around "as if attending a bonfire". I had to take a short break from the book at that point, and that was right after the opening chapter.

In the meantime, someone has called the police, wanting to speak to Ann Lindell, the detective attached to the local station. But she no longer works there, leaving after her mentor retires. She now lives in a cottage in the village, making cheese , while still acknowledging to herself that she misses the thrill of the chase.

Anyone who has ever lived in a small town knows that small town folk tend to be guarded, and small towns usually have tons off secrets. Ann is drawn into the investigation, feeding the information she susses out to a former colleague. When additional fires break out, she does the same. There are also bombs going off, in the village, and in Stockholm. Are all these things related? And where is the missing immigrant? Is he the one going around doing this? If so, why?

Many current issues are brought up in the book: immigration, xenophobia, racism, and so on. Ann fights through all of these things in addition to the tight-lipped nature of her village. Eventually, the mystery is solved, but while on vacation, Ann is approached by a man who works for the national police, and cryptically tells her perhaps they will meet again when she walks away. Will she be drawn back to the work permanently and officially? I suppose we'll need to read the next book to find out.

Overall impression: it does go heavy on current events, as noted. On the plus side, the book works just fine as a standalone, so reading the previous books in the series, while informative, is not necessary. Ann is a complex, deep character, without some of the tics/schticks that some writers put in place to make their characters memorable for reasons other than whatever it is they do in the story. The story is good, the investigations are carried out competently, without anyone suddenly doing anything completely out of character.

On the downside, at times the narrative got a bit clunky, but this could be more about the translation than anything else, as is not always easy to translate something and have it retain the same flavor as the original. The pacing drags just a bit, and there are numerous characters the reader has to track throughout, and this may be an issue for some people. The issues that pop up in the story may be a tad depressing for some people, and at times threaten to overwhelm the entire narrative. if you're looking for a fast-paced mystery, this is not the book for you.

I'm giving it a solid four out of five stars. Ann is what really carries this book through to the end.

Thanks to Minotaur/St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the review copy.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Night of the Fire is a complex mystery novel that unveils the beauty and horror of living in a small town when times are bad and getting worse. Ann Lindell, is a brilliant retired policewoman who is finished being a cop but can’t stop investigating. The Night of the Fire, written by Kjell Eriksson, is the latest of 11 novels in the Ann Lindell Series, 8 of which are translated into English.

Ann Lindell has recently retired from police work and now works in a creamery in a small village in Sweden. The old village school house burns down and 2 immigrants who are squatting in the schoolhouse go missing and are presumed dead. The police cannot get any cooperation from the locals but, within the community, Ann starts picking up information that she passes on her former partner. Then another fire occurs and one of the victims is linked to the school house fire. One of the immigrants from the school house fire seems to be the obvious suspect, but where is he? In parallel, a terrorist group plants bombs in nearby Uppsala and the race is on to find the suspects before the damage escalates. Ann suspects the crimes are linked, but how?

Character development of one of the strongest features of this book. Ann Lindell is a complex character who is drawn in several directions by her past and by her future. Ann’s former police partner and the neighbours in the village are equally complex. Eriksson does an excellent job of slowly revealing their secrets and eccentricities as the story unfolds. He does not stop with just the characters. Eriksson helps you understand how difficult it can be living in a small village particularly when that village is falling on hard times. The character interactions are fascinating.

The plot of the book touches on a number of our contemporary issues such as racism, immigration, aging, declining economies and terrorism. This makes the book particularly relevant but there are moments in the book when I find the plethora of issues being discussed a little overwhelming and certainly depressing.

I am not sure if it is the cultural way issues are addressed or simply the translation but I do find many parts of the book hard to follow and cumbersome. I still should reread some parts. As the story continues this became less and less of an issue.

I recommend this book to all people who love crime novels and complex characters. The discourse is difficult to follow at times and there are many issues that one should be thinking about. I give it a 3 on 5. I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a digital copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

[Amanda McHugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Icelandic/Nordic crime thrillers. Jo Nesbo is one of my favorites, but I've also read a few new authors this year who I can't wait to see more from. So I was really excited to be approved for The Night of the Fire and quickly dove in.

Ann Lindell retired from her position as a police inspector in Uppsala for a quieter life as a farmer/cheese maker when a fire breaks out in an old village schoolhouse that is now used for asylum seekers. They assume arson, and Ann finds herself becoming more involved in the investigation as the stakes become higher and more personal.

So, I liked this book. In full disclosure, I didn't realize this was the ninth in a series. I've read one other Lindell title and I'm not sure how I missed the others, but I would definitely go back and read those because I love her character. That's not to say you need her entire back story to understand what's happening here. Eriksson did a wonderful job alluding to enough of her history and filling in the blanks as this current story unfolded. You know there's more to her, but you don't need it to understand the plot.

And there's a lot to admire about the plot. Eriksson delves into some serious issues such as racism and nationalism and what happens in times of transition. Considering our current environment, these topics are extremely relevant and intriguing.

The translation, however, was clunky and took me out of the story too much. I had trouble following the intricacies of the dialogue and oftentimes didn't understand the turns of speech or train of thought. Ann's thoughts wander from the task at hand to random events that made her seem quirkier than I think she was supposed to. This led to some pretty dense, confusing paragraphs, and for that reason, I couldn't get into this story as much as I wanted.

Overall, The Night of the Fire has an intriguing premise and likable characters, but you might need to put in some extra effort to become engrossed in the dense translation.

Thank you to Minotaur and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for honest review consideration.

[BOOKLOVER EB · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ann Lindell is a former detective who, after resigning from the Uppsala police force, settled in the rural village of Tilltorp. She lives alone and is employed in a creamery, where she helps make organic cheeses. In Kjell Eriksson's "The Night of the Fire," translated from the Swedish by Paul Norlen, some of the locals are up to no good. A group of right-wing extremists want their country to reject asylum seekers and expel those who are already there. The hooligans set fire to a building where immigrants are being housed. Other killings follow, although it is not clear whether they are connected to the fire.

Lindell has no standing to investigate, but she makes inquiries in an effort to assist her former colleague, Sammy Nilsson, of the Violent Crimes Unit. The author spends a great deal of time exploring Lindell's and Nilsson's angst. Ann has had problems with alcohol and still drinks, although not as excessively as she had in the past. Nilsson's marriage is crumbling and he is finding his job increasingly depressing. Eriksson's plot is labored and slow-moving, and most of the characters are dreary and unlikeable.

"The Night of the Fire" is an uninspired thriller with strained and quirky dialogue and excessive exposition. The novel seldom engages us, and by the time readers reach the conclusion, many will have lost interest in the culprits' identities. The social commentary is similar to that found in many Scandinavian thrillers. Some local Swedes, who are enraged that refugees are entering their country, commit acts of violence, hoping to force changes in immigration policy. Aside from Ann—who is good-hearted and eager to see that justice is done—and to a lesser extent, Sammy, there are few people in these pages with whom we empathize. This is a disheartening tale of family dysfunction, antagonism, and loneliness. Furthermore, Eriksson points out that peace-loving individuals are afraid to stand up to the vigilantes, since anyone who confides in law enforcement officials may himself be targeted for death.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Night of the Fire by Kjell Eriksson is a puzzling mystery with a topical storyline.

Ann Lindell has left the police force and settled into a quiet life in the country.  However, an arsonist sets fire to an unused school where refugees are staying.  Ann believes some of her village neighbors might know more than they are saying.  Despite her curiosity, she tries to leave the investigating to the police. But when someone from her past reaches out to her, Ann receives information that she has no choice but to reveal to her former co-workers.  Then when another fire ends in tragedy, Ann tries to balance her new life with her finely honed investigative instincts.

Ann's move to a much quieter life and new career have proved to be beneficial. She is drinking much less and enjoying a smoother relationship with her teenage son Erik. The only real disappointment stems from her platonic relationship with Edvard. She remains hopeful their romance might resume, but her expectations are beginning to plummet.

Meanwhile, Ann's former partner Sammy Nisson is heading the investigation into the second fire. He is still adjusting to his new partner Bodin who does not reveal much of what he is thinking. Sammy is also having trouble in his longtime marriage as his wife continues to distance herself from him. Sammy misses working with Ann and she provides interesting insight into the village and its residents.

While the mystery surrounding the fires is interesting, the beginning of the novel is a somewhat disjointed and difficult to follow.  Fortunately, the narrative soon begins to flow much smoother. The two story arcs are interesting but the overall storyline seems a little busy with numerous secondary characters.  The pacing is a little slow until well after the halfway point.

The Night of the Fire is a perplexing mystery with an all too relevant storyline. Ann is in a much better place in her life and she tries not to interfere too much in Sammy's investigation. Sammy is bit miserable as he witnesses Ann's newfound contentment as he contemplates his future. His investigation moves somewhat sluggishly as he talks to witnesses and revisits the crime scenes. With unexpected twists,  Kjell Eriksson brings this multi-layered mystery to a satisfying conclusion. The final chapter is intriguing and will leave readers eager to read the next installment in the Ann Lindell Mysteries series.

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Night of the Fire," by Kjell Eriksson, translated by Paul Norlen, Minotaur Books, 336 pages, Nov. 17, 2020.

Police inspector Ann Lindell has left the Uppsala police and is living a quiet life, working in a creamery in a small town. She has a son, Erik, 16, at boarding school.

On the previous New Year’s Eve someone set fire to the former village school which was a home for asylum seekers. Three people were killed. A neighbor saw several men running away.

Five months later, the investigation has shut down for lack of evidence, but a boy is still missing. Someone calls the police Violent Crimes Unit and says he will only talk to Ann Lindell. He wants to warn her that many will die.

Sammy Nilsson, one of the experienced officers in the unit, visits Lindell. He brings a recording of the call. The caller sounds familiar, but Lindell doesn't want to name him at first. She recognizes him as Justus Jonsson. Jonsson believes he knows who is going to commit a bombing.

Someone leaves dead birds in Lindell's mailbox, then a dead badger on her bed. She decides to investigate the fire. Then someone sets a second fatal fire. A few weeks later a bomb explodes in a suburb of Stockholm, leaving seven dead and 20 injured. Are the same people responsible?

This is the eleventh book in the Ann Lindell series, but only the eighth novel translated to English. The characters are excellent, especially Lindell. Why would she make such a drastic career change? The plot and the characters are complex. Eriksson does an excellent job of slowly revealing secrets in the small town as the story unfolds. You don't have to read the others in the series to enjoy this one.

In accordance with FTC guidelines, the advance reader's edition of this book was provided by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for a review.