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The Dark Heart: A True Story of Greed, Murder, and an Unlikely Investigator
A chilling true crime story of poisonous family secrets, love gone wrong, and a cold case that refused to stay buried…
In late summer of 2012, millionaire landowner Göran Lundblad went missing from his farm in Sweden. When a search yielded nothing, and all physical evidence had seemingly disappeared, authorities had little to go on—except a disturbing phone call five weeks later from Göran’s daughter Maria. She was sure that her sister, Sara, was somehow involved. At the heart of the alleged Sara’s greed, her father’s land holdings, and his bitter feud with Sara’s idler boyfriend.
With no body, there was no crime—and the case went as cold and dark as the forests of southern Sweden. But not for Therese Tang. For two years, this case was her obsession.
A hard-working ex-model, mother of three, and Missing People investigator, Therese was willing to put her own safety at risk in order to uncover the truth. What she found was a nest of depraved secrets, lies, and betrayal. All she had to do now, in her relentless and dangerous pursuit of justice, was prove that it led to murder.
In late summer of 2012, millionaire landowner Göran Lundblad went missing from his farm in Sweden. When a search yielded nothing, and all physical evidence had seemingly disappeared, authorities had little to go on—except a disturbing phone call five weeks later from Göran’s daughter Maria. She was sure that her sister, Sara, was somehow involved. At the heart of the alleged Sara’s greed, her father’s land holdings, and his bitter feud with Sara’s idler boyfriend.
With no body, there was no crime—and the case went as cold and dark as the forests of southern Sweden. But not for Therese Tang. For two years, this case was her obsession.
A hard-working ex-model, mother of three, and Missing People investigator, Therese was willing to put her own safety at risk in order to uncover the truth. What she found was a nest of depraved secrets, lies, and betrayal. All she had to do now, in her relentless and dangerous pursuit of justice, was prove that it led to murder.
314 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 2017
11290 people are currently reading
19145 people want to read
About the author
Joakim Palmkvist
7 books30 followersAfter studies in political science at Lund University and international journalism in London, he started working on the Barometer as a reporter in the summer of 1995 .
In 1997 he was employed at Sydsvenska Dagbladet where he is still working. In 2015 and 2016 Palmkvist worked with the radio program I Lagens Naam for Sveriges Radio P1 .
In 1997 he was employed at Sydsvenska Dagbladet where he is still working. In 2015 and 2016 Palmkvist worked with the radio program I Lagens Naam for Sveriges Radio P1 .
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 759 reviews
April 28, 2019
3.0 Stars — I decided to read a true crime book for my next read, and “The Dark Heart” caught my eye because it has been heavily promoted on Kindle Unlimited. “The Dark Heart” was written by a Swedish crime reporter and details the investigation into a missing person / murder of a very wealthy Swedish businessman. One drawback of books that are translated from its original language to English is that the writing usually comes off stilted and unclear, but this was one of the best translated books that I have read. However, this book’s narrative seems to have been stretched too long with minimal information about the relationship and problems that existed between the victim and the suspects, and too much information regarding the background of the leader of the missing persons’ rescue organization. The author also misses out on a golden opportunity of being much more detailed about the unusual way the case was solved and the intensity and fear involved in a day long interrogation by a civilian left alone with a murderer. Instead, the author tried to make the book into a whodunnit even though there were only 2 potential conspiring suspects from the beginning of the book til the end. With all that said, I have definitely read much better true crime books.
March 2, 2019
A book that should have been an essay. It was so stretched out with various boring incidental issues and an inevitable conclusion. I want my life back.
November 12, 2018
The Dark Heart: A True Story of Greed, Murder, and an Unlikely Investigator
This is the story of a missing Swedish millionaire, Goran Lundblad who has a couple of farms and other properties. Before he went missing, he’s been trying to convince his daughter Sara, who lived and worked with him, to get rid of a boyfriend she’d acquired that has become a bone of contention between them. Finally, Therese Tang gets involved, a mother of 3, former model and security guard, who is an investigator for a missing persons group. She won’t take no for an answer and risks her neck. I thought the narration was quite decent, the man was great at pronouncing all of the tricky place and people names that I often wondered how they looked in text. The story, while a little predictable, is still a good one, although there is a bit of padding. It’s an enjoyable true crime book on audio, well performed. I would choose to read the book from the cover description.
I read the ebook after listening to the Audible, just to check out all of those names I couldn’t quite understand during the Audible reading. It’s kind of like the second time watching a movie, where you pick up on things you didn’t quite get the first time through. I probably should have done this in reverse, but I hadn’t really planned to do both until I reached the end of the Audible and was so curious about so many spellings of the foreign names. My thanks for the advance electronic copy that was provided by NetGalley, author Joakim Palmkvist, and the publisher for my fair review.
Ebook/ Narrator – Ulf Bjorklund / Translator – Agnes Broome
AmazonCrossing 314pages Pub: Nov 1st, 2018
Audible Audiobook / Narrator- Ulf Bjorklund /Translator - Agnes Broome
Brilliance Audio 9hrs 13mins Pub: Nov 1st, 2018
RATING: 3.5/5 Stars
My BookZone blog:
https://wordpress.com/post/bookblog20...
This is the story of a missing Swedish millionaire, Goran Lundblad who has a couple of farms and other properties. Before he went missing, he’s been trying to convince his daughter Sara, who lived and worked with him, to get rid of a boyfriend she’d acquired that has become a bone of contention between them. Finally, Therese Tang gets involved, a mother of 3, former model and security guard, who is an investigator for a missing persons group. She won’t take no for an answer and risks her neck. I thought the narration was quite decent, the man was great at pronouncing all of the tricky place and people names that I often wondered how they looked in text. The story, while a little predictable, is still a good one, although there is a bit of padding. It’s an enjoyable true crime book on audio, well performed. I would choose to read the book from the cover description.
I read the ebook after listening to the Audible, just to check out all of those names I couldn’t quite understand during the Audible reading. It’s kind of like the second time watching a movie, where you pick up on things you didn’t quite get the first time through. I probably should have done this in reverse, but I hadn’t really planned to do both until I reached the end of the Audible and was so curious about so many spellings of the foreign names. My thanks for the advance electronic copy that was provided by NetGalley, author Joakim Palmkvist, and the publisher for my fair review.
Ebook/ Narrator – Ulf Bjorklund / Translator – Agnes Broome
AmazonCrossing 314pages Pub: Nov 1st, 2018
Audible Audiobook / Narrator- Ulf Bjorklund /Translator - Agnes Broome
Brilliance Audio 9hrs 13mins Pub: Nov 1st, 2018
RATING: 3.5/5 Stars
My BookZone blog:
https://wordpress.com/post/bookblog20...
January 20, 2019
No body, no murder…The body was missing. There were no videos, no recorded confessions, and there was no evidence of foul play.
A wealthy Swedish man has gone missing. Has he been murdered? From the very first police investigation, where nothing is found, they do feel that something is amiss and all fingers point to his eldest daughter and her boyfriend. I am giving nothing away here. This is all set-up in the first 10 pages. The dark heart of a Romeo and Juliet story.
Around seven to eight thousand people a year disappear in Sweden. The majority are found.
What makes this book different is the investigator, Therese Tang, who volunteers for Missing People Sweden. She would work on this case for 19 months. A waitress, former model, hairdresser, make-up artist and nuclear power plant worker with three children. Did I mention that she ended up as a Police Custody Officer? I am not kidding. Her contact with one of the lead protagonists is creepy, unnerving and damn right tense.
The author has put in a lot of research especially tracking all the Lundblads money. The web of money reaches out to different places. Where will it all end up? Money, as they say, is the root of all evil. It certainly is here. If you enjoy reading true crime then this is recommended. It is easy to read and kept my attention throughout.
A wealthy Swedish man has gone missing. Has he been murdered? From the very first police investigation, where nothing is found, they do feel that something is amiss and all fingers point to his eldest daughter and her boyfriend. I am giving nothing away here. This is all set-up in the first 10 pages. The dark heart of a Romeo and Juliet story.
Around seven to eight thousand people a year disappear in Sweden. The majority are found.
What makes this book different is the investigator, Therese Tang, who volunteers for Missing People Sweden. She would work on this case for 19 months. A waitress, former model, hairdresser, make-up artist and nuclear power plant worker with three children. Did I mention that she ended up as a Police Custody Officer? I am not kidding. Her contact with one of the lead protagonists is creepy, unnerving and damn right tense.
The author has put in a lot of research especially tracking all the Lundblads money. The web of money reaches out to different places. Where will it all end up? Money, as they say, is the root of all evil. It certainly is here. If you enjoy reading true crime then this is recommended. It is easy to read and kept my attention throughout.
October 15, 2018
This is a book that would have made a great newspaper article. Or a pamphlet. Or a 15-minute video. Anything but a full-length book.
It was about 10 times too long, and the translation was awkward. It was clearly not a native English speaker doing the translation, and the book suffers for that. There are too many phrases that are supposed to be complete sentences, such as "A woman, to boot, and older than he." It isn't terrible, it's just not quite right. Phrases read awkwardly. Structures that would not typically be used are employed over and over again. Sentences are too long, even when they're not technically run-ons.
So, problem number #1 is poor translation. But that's not the worst problem.
The book is just not that good. It's stilted, boring, tries too hard to be suspenseful and fails miserably, and is just not worth a read. The author tries to make a heroine out of Therese, but she's flat and unlikeable.
There just isn't much of a story here. It's all pretty obvious from the beginning, and I felt like someone needed to come along and say, "Nothing to see here, folks."
I can't think of anyone I'd recommend it to, and I can't think of anyone who couldn't find something better to read.
It was about 10 times too long, and the translation was awkward. It was clearly not a native English speaker doing the translation, and the book suffers for that. There are too many phrases that are supposed to be complete sentences, such as "A woman, to boot, and older than he." It isn't terrible, it's just not quite right. Phrases read awkwardly. Structures that would not typically be used are employed over and over again. Sentences are too long, even when they're not technically run-ons.
So, problem number #1 is poor translation. But that's not the worst problem.
The book is just not that good. It's stilted, boring, tries too hard to be suspenseful and fails miserably, and is just not worth a read. The author tries to make a heroine out of Therese, but she's flat and unlikeable.
There just isn't much of a story here. It's all pretty obvious from the beginning, and I felt like someone needed to come along and say, "Nothing to see here, folks."
I can't think of anyone I'd recommend it to, and I can't think of anyone who couldn't find something better to read.
November 12, 2018
The Dark Heart: A True Story of Greed, Murder, and an Unlikely Investigator
This is the story of a missing Swedish millionaire, Goran Lundblad who has a couple of farms and other properties. Before he went missing, he’s been trying to convince his daughter Sara, who lived and worked with him, to get rid of a boyfriend she’d acquired that has become a bone of contention between them. Finally, Therese Tang gets involved, a mother of 3, former model and security guard, who is an investigator for a missing persons group. She won’t take no for an answer and risks her neck. I thought the narration was quite decent, the man was great at pronouncing all of the tricky place and people names that I often wondered how they looked in text. The story, while a little predictable, is still a good one, although there is a bit of padding. It’s an enjoyable true crime book on audio, well performed. I would choose to read the book from the cover description.
I read the ebook after listening to the Audible, just to check out all of those names I couldn’t quite understand during the Audible reading. It’s kind of like the second time watching a movie, where you pick up on things you didn’t quite get the first time through. I probably should have done this in reverse, but I hadn’t really planned to do both until I reached the end of the Audible and was so curious about so many spellings of the foreign names. My thanks for the advance electronic copy that was provided by NetGalley, author Joakim Palmkvist, and the publisher for my fair review.
Ebook/ Narrator – Ulf Bjorklund / Translator – Agnes Broome
AmazonCrossing 314pages Pub: Nov 1st, 2018
Audible Audiobook / Narrator- Ulf Bjorklund /Translator - Agnes Broome
Brilliance Audio 9hrs 13mins Pub: Nov 1st, 2018
RATING: 3.5/5 Stars
My BookZone blog:
https://wordpress.com/post/bookblog20...
This is the story of a missing Swedish millionaire, Goran Lundblad who has a couple of farms and other properties. Before he went missing, he’s been trying to convince his daughter Sara, who lived and worked with him, to get rid of a boyfriend she’d acquired that has become a bone of contention between them. Finally, Therese Tang gets involved, a mother of 3, former model and security guard, who is an investigator for a missing persons group. She won’t take no for an answer and risks her neck. I thought the narration was quite decent, the man was great at pronouncing all of the tricky place and people names that I often wondered how they looked in text. The story, while a little predictable, is still a good one, although there is a bit of padding. It’s an enjoyable true crime book on audio, well performed. I would choose to read the book from the cover description.
I read the ebook after listening to the Audible, just to check out all of those names I couldn’t quite understand during the Audible reading. It’s kind of like the second time watching a movie, where you pick up on things you didn’t quite get the first time through. I probably should have done this in reverse, but I hadn’t really planned to do both until I reached the end of the Audible and was so curious about so many spellings of the foreign names. My thanks for the advance electronic copy that was provided by NetGalley, author Joakim Palmkvist, and the publisher for my fair review.
Ebook/ Narrator – Ulf Bjorklund / Translator – Agnes Broome
AmazonCrossing 314pages Pub: Nov 1st, 2018
Audible Audiobook / Narrator- Ulf Bjorklund /Translator - Agnes Broome
Brilliance Audio 9hrs 13mins Pub: Nov 1st, 2018
RATING: 3.5/5 Stars
My BookZone blog:
https://wordpress.com/post/bookblog20...
October 5, 2018
Riveting
A riveting true-crime story set in Scandinavia. The real-life process detectives ... and community volunteers ... used to put the pieces together is highlighted, not the gore. Well-written. All questions answered. Loose ends tied up. All in all, a great read!
A riveting true-crime story set in Scandinavia. The real-life process detectives ... and community volunteers ... used to put the pieces together is highlighted, not the gore. Well-written. All questions answered. Loose ends tied up. All in all, a great read!
November 17, 2018
My first time reading a true crime story set outside the USA. Learning about the judicial system in another country kept my interest when the story lagged occasionally. Greed and a gruesome murder are mixed together to make a very interesting story.
October 16, 2018
Read it in one day!
Let me get this criticism out of the way first: the first chapter is unnecessary, and adds nothing to the book. It is highly emotional and overwrought, and I almost stopped reading right then. I find it so hard to believe that any woman would place herself in such a dangerous situation, especially one who is so savvy about criminal behavior. Had this been fiction, I would have judged it totally implausible. On to the main body of the book. This is definitely hard to put down once you are swept up into the true account of a wealthy man just disappearing one day from a small farming community. The family relationships are complicated, long-standing land feuds are brought out, greed for land and money is evident. Everyone believes that the daughter and her boyfriend are guilty of foul play...but there is no body, therefore no crime. They almost get away with murder, but for one woman who is obsessed with getting to the bottom of this in order to see justice served.
Let me get this criticism out of the way first: the first chapter is unnecessary, and adds nothing to the book. It is highly emotional and overwrought, and I almost stopped reading right then. I find it so hard to believe that any woman would place herself in such a dangerous situation, especially one who is so savvy about criminal behavior. Had this been fiction, I would have judged it totally implausible. On to the main body of the book. This is definitely hard to put down once you are swept up into the true account of a wealthy man just disappearing one day from a small farming community. The family relationships are complicated, long-standing land feuds are brought out, greed for land and money is evident. Everyone believes that the daughter and her boyfriend are guilty of foul play...but there is no body, therefore no crime. They almost get away with murder, but for one woman who is obsessed with getting to the bottom of this in order to see justice served.
November 3, 2018
This was... interesting? I received an early copy as a part of Amazon's First Reads program. High points: interesting to see how the Swedish legal/police system works, and Swedish society in general.
I was impatient with the author frequently, and wish he would have cut back on the sinister foreshadowing ("She had no idea how entangled she would become in the events of the next eighteen months", paraphrased). It's a non-fiction account of a murder investigation, we get it, dark deeds are ahead. I also didn't need quite so much of a deep dive into Therese's background, and I was absolutely horrified by her actions toward the end of the story. That may be reflective of my American background and the expectations/limitations of the police versus private citizens; she seemed very arrogant and reckless. There was a lot of detail provided that seemed redundant or unnecessary, which dragged down the pacing.
The perpetrators are telegraphed from the very beginning of the story, and we lose track of other interesting people, such as Maria Lundblad. I ended up not particularly caring if the body was found or the suspects arrested. I think I'll change my analysis to "this was tedious".
I was impatient with the author frequently, and wish he would have cut back on the sinister foreshadowing ("She had no idea how entangled she would become in the events of the next eighteen months", paraphrased). It's a non-fiction account of a murder investigation, we get it, dark deeds are ahead. I also didn't need quite so much of a deep dive into Therese's background, and I was absolutely horrified by her actions toward the end of the story. That may be reflective of my American background and the expectations/limitations of the police versus private citizens; she seemed very arrogant and reckless. There was a lot of detail provided that seemed redundant or unnecessary, which dragged down the pacing.
The perpetrators are telegraphed from the very beginning of the story, and we lose track of other interesting people, such as Maria Lundblad. I ended up not particularly caring if the body was found or the suspects arrested. I think I'll change my analysis to "this was tedious".
Read
December 4, 2018I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free ARC of this e-book.
The truth is that I didn't finish it. I am now convinced that the so-called true crime genre is not my cup of tea. The main positive characteristic of the book is that it contains an abundance of information concerning the Swedish socio-political status quo, the emphasis being given in the legal and justice issues. The story itself though couldn't retain my attention enough to even finish it. It is like reading a crime fiction, police procedural novel with the differentiator of course being that the narrated events are true and took place a couple of years ago. The pace that the story unfolds is excruciatingly slow and I found myself being bored to death around the first third of the book. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the author, Joakim Palmkvist, is one of the most well-known investigating journalists in Sweden and is considered to be one of the top crime reporter in the Scandinavian country. Of course I couldn't recommend a book that I didn't even complete but perhaps ''The Dark Heart'' will appeal more to the true crime fans.
The truth is that I didn't finish it. I am now convinced that the so-called true crime genre is not my cup of tea. The main positive characteristic of the book is that it contains an abundance of information concerning the Swedish socio-political status quo, the emphasis being given in the legal and justice issues. The story itself though couldn't retain my attention enough to even finish it. It is like reading a crime fiction, police procedural novel with the differentiator of course being that the narrated events are true and took place a couple of years ago. The pace that the story unfolds is excruciatingly slow and I found myself being bored to death around the first third of the book. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the author, Joakim Palmkvist, is one of the most well-known investigating journalists in Sweden and is considered to be one of the top crime reporter in the Scandinavian country. Of course I couldn't recommend a book that I didn't even complete but perhaps ''The Dark Heart'' will appeal more to the true crime fans.
October 11, 2018
This story was well written from beginning to end. I enjoyed reading the intricate details the author provided about the case. Sometimes the story just jump forward but there is an explanation following that guides the reader to that point. This helped me think about what I had just read and piece it together in my mind. Along with learning about this murder, it was nice to follow the person who solved the case and what she has to go through emotionally during and after the case was solved.
Loved it!
Loved it!
February 18, 2019
My experience reading this monstrosity;
-oh lord this editing is fucking horrendos
*proceeds to edit it all*
-this is so boring that I have no care in the world to continue editing it
-so b o r i n g
*skips chapters*
-can still follow the ”plot”
- stupid stupid stupid
-so this was published to show how to not write a true crime? ahh got it
-the end-
-oh lord this editing is fucking horrendos
*proceeds to edit it all*
-this is so boring that I have no care in the world to continue editing it
-so b o r i n g
*skips chapters*
-can still follow the ”plot”
- stupid stupid stupid
-so this was published to show how to not write a true crime? ahh got it
-the end-
October 23, 2018
I've had some less than enjoyable experiences with translated fiction, and so I hesitated before opting to read this translation of true crime. Aspects of a story and the emotion often get lost in the transition when translating from one language to another. I was pleasantly surprised to find this is an entertaining read that translates well.
I knew nothing about Goran Lundblad's murder or the surrounding family drama. And a drama this is! I couldn't "like" the victim, a wealthy man who lives like a pauper and plays the system so that his daughter can receive financial aid to pay for college. Still, he was a man who didn't deserve to be murdered, by any stretch of the imagination. The circumstances surrounding his murder are fascinating, in that morbid kind of way of true crime.
This book is extremely detailed, which will put off some readers. I enjoyed it, for the most part. This isn't a condensed version of the crime and how it was solved. We follow the timeline as it plays out, with all the stops, starts, and lulls of the real investigation.
The author provides a lot of information about the Swedish legal system, so those of us living in other countries get a firm understanding of the difference in how things work there. I found this aspect quite interesting.
My major stumbling point: I was confused by the 'Afterword'. This book is true crime, written in narrative style. As with all narrative true crime, I assumed this was factual, with the possible exception of occasional liberties taken with assigning specific emotion to a person's reaction or maybe altering bits of dialogue for better flow. Yet, the first line of the Afterword is, "This book constitutes one of many possible versions of a long and complex history and a gruesome crime." So now I'm stumped. That statement implies that perhaps the story didn't play out exactly as written. Maybe some details were changed. Maybe a whole bunch of things happened differently. I'm left wondering if I read a true crime nonfiction book or if I read a fictionalized version of a true crime story. Or is that line some sort of legal disclaimer to protect the author from being sued by the two convicted killers? That line needs better explanation. If this is not a completely factual true crime story, the subtitle should not call it true crime and it should have been clarified right at the opening. I'm left perplexed.
I knew nothing about Goran Lundblad's murder or the surrounding family drama. And a drama this is! I couldn't "like" the victim, a wealthy man who lives like a pauper and plays the system so that his daughter can receive financial aid to pay for college. Still, he was a man who didn't deserve to be murdered, by any stretch of the imagination. The circumstances surrounding his murder are fascinating, in that morbid kind of way of true crime.
This book is extremely detailed, which will put off some readers. I enjoyed it, for the most part. This isn't a condensed version of the crime and how it was solved. We follow the timeline as it plays out, with all the stops, starts, and lulls of the real investigation.
The author provides a lot of information about the Swedish legal system, so those of us living in other countries get a firm understanding of the difference in how things work there. I found this aspect quite interesting.
My major stumbling point: I was confused by the 'Afterword'. This book is true crime, written in narrative style. As with all narrative true crime, I assumed this was factual, with the possible exception of occasional liberties taken with assigning specific emotion to a person's reaction or maybe altering bits of dialogue for better flow. Yet, the first line of the Afterword is, "This book constitutes one of many possible versions of a long and complex history and a gruesome crime." So now I'm stumped. That statement implies that perhaps the story didn't play out exactly as written. Maybe some details were changed. Maybe a whole bunch of things happened differently. I'm left wondering if I read a true crime nonfiction book or if I read a fictionalized version of a true crime story. Or is that line some sort of legal disclaimer to protect the author from being sued by the two convicted killers? That line needs better explanation. If this is not a completely factual true crime story, the subtitle should not call it true crime and it should have been clarified right at the opening. I'm left perplexed.
November 17, 2018
Terrific True Crime Novel
Just finished a terrific true crime novel "The Dark Heart" by Joakim Palmkvist. Another Kindle First discovery of mine which I found fascinating.
Set in Sweeden, there was plenty of intrigue: "dark and deranged Romeo and Juliet story about star-crossed lovers in a rural setting. Lovers who murdered the girl’s father. All the money added a bit of extra spice, as those are the kinds of things that naturally stoke curiosity. But how the case was solved—thanks to a private investigator who put herself in harm’s way to find the truth and convict the perpetrators—really raised the interest from mere curiosity to public frenzy."
Be sure to check it out!!
Just finished a terrific true crime novel "The Dark Heart" by Joakim Palmkvist. Another Kindle First discovery of mine which I found fascinating.
Set in Sweeden, there was plenty of intrigue: "dark and deranged Romeo and Juliet story about star-crossed lovers in a rural setting. Lovers who murdered the girl’s father. All the money added a bit of extra spice, as those are the kinds of things that naturally stoke curiosity. But how the case was solved—thanks to a private investigator who put herself in harm’s way to find the truth and convict the perpetrators—really raised the interest from mere curiosity to public frenzy."
Be sure to check it out!!
November 17, 2018
Hard to Forget
I felt pulled into this story and found it hard to put down or forget. Everyone in this case is unforgettable - especially the woman who broke the case, Therese Tang. I highly recommend this book to anyone else who is interested in true crime.
I felt pulled into this story and found it hard to put down or forget. Everyone in this case is unforgettable - especially the woman who broke the case, Therese Tang. I highly recommend this book to anyone else who is interested in true crime.
November 17, 2018
Excellent book
This was a medium length book that is very good. This murder is weird and the detection of it is brilliant.
This was a medium length book that is very good. This murder is weird and the detection of it is brilliant.
October 5, 2018
This was my Kindle First choice for October and I could've picked 3 this month but since true crime is my real "bag" I opted for this and I'm so pleased I did. I really enjoyed it, a fascinating look into how the Swedes investigate a murder (or not) !! I was shocked at one case being referred to as a suicide when the victim was located in his car boot !!
I also found it pretty staggering that they appeared to be only capable of investigating one murder case at a time and all others got left by the wayside in the interim. They also have some interesting laws regarding how they gain information from witnesses, which I agreed with, actually. Too often we hear of cases where so much is inadmissible when it shouldn't be. However, my jaw also hit the floor at the sentencing and the REASON it wasn't as stringent as I thought it should be !!
I did smile at the mention of Gothenburg locals Hassan Al Mandlawi and Al-Amin Sultan, since they sound as local to Gothenburg as I am !! Therese is a fascinating lady and thankfully a tenacious one as well. I was quite shocked that she seemed more concerned about finding Goran than his family appeared to be !!
I liked this phrase....."It is only a hole, for now. It needs a body to make it a grave."
I spotted confidants written when it should've been confidantes but that was the only mistake throughout, which is highly commendable, especially from the translator Agnes Broome.
I'd highly recommend this. It's so interesting to learn how other countries investigate and prosecute killers.
I also found it pretty staggering that they appeared to be only capable of investigating one murder case at a time and all others got left by the wayside in the interim. They also have some interesting laws regarding how they gain information from witnesses, which I agreed with, actually. Too often we hear of cases where so much is inadmissible when it shouldn't be. However, my jaw also hit the floor at the sentencing and the REASON it wasn't as stringent as I thought it should be !!
I did smile at the mention of Gothenburg locals Hassan Al Mandlawi and Al-Amin Sultan, since they sound as local to Gothenburg as I am !! Therese is a fascinating lady and thankfully a tenacious one as well. I was quite shocked that she seemed more concerned about finding Goran than his family appeared to be !!
I liked this phrase....."It is only a hole, for now. It needs a body to make it a grave."
I spotted confidants written when it should've been confidantes but that was the only mistake throughout, which is highly commendable, especially from the translator Agnes Broome.
I'd highly recommend this. It's so interesting to learn how other countries investigate and prosecute killers.
November 9, 2018
2.5. This was sometimes unputdownable, other times tedious. The investigation itself is interesting enough in the telling although there's little mystery about who did it. What makes this story different is the "private investigator" Therese Tang who gets involved with her branch of a national organization of volunteer searchers for missing people, and eventually ends up eliciting the break in the two-year cold case. The author keeps using that term, "private investigator," and it bothered me, because she decidedly is not one. As incredible as her unique contribution to cracking the case is, I found a lot around how it happened to be very troubling, not to mention the risk to herself.
Parts are written very newspaper-ish, including way too many unnecessary details about Therese's life, family, and wide range of jobs that have nothing to do with anything. It's mentioned so many times that she was a model (among many other jobs, more than I can count) that it's clear this detail was part of the draw around her role in the story.
Also a line in the afterword about how this is one possible way out of many it could've happened (???) I get that authors take some creative liberties filling in details in narratives but it sounds pretty broad the way it's worded here, so I'm not sure what to believe. The way it's written screams that this'll be a movie for sure.
Parts are written very newspaper-ish, including way too many unnecessary details about Therese's life, family, and wide range of jobs that have nothing to do with anything. It's mentioned so many times that she was a model (among many other jobs, more than I can count) that it's clear this detail was part of the draw around her role in the story.
Also a line in the afterword about how this is one possible way out of many it could've happened (???) I get that authors take some creative liberties filling in details in narratives but it sounds pretty broad the way it's worded here, so I'm not sure what to believe. The way it's written screams that this'll be a movie for sure.
October 7, 2018
I thought initially this was a really promising account of the search for the killers of wealthy Goran Lundblat but I think it was possible to tell this story over a few pages in a Sunday Supplement. There was a lot of detail that I felt didn’t add much to the story telling. For example, I realise that what made the story unusual was the dogged determination of Therese Tang from Missing People rather than the police but there was so much detail about her I almost nodded off. There were very lengthy descriptions of the area around Norra Forlosa where Goran owned a lot of land and also tangental cases that Missing Persons had been involved with. I also thought it was a shame that the author disclosed how Goran died long before we knew the who or the why although the hearsay evidence against his daughter Sara and her boyfriend Martin was escalating. It was an ok read although somewhat pedestrian and the American translation specifically the use of gotten irritated me as it halted the flow of the writing. The last point is a purely personal gripe as it’s a perfectly legitimate word just one I’m not keen on -so my bad 🤣
May 3, 2019
Although a bit back & forthy it was a typical true crime book. The crime happened in Sweden so it was interesting to learn about some of the differences in Swedish law compared to law in the U.S.
October 4, 2018
a very dry...sort of whodunit even tho we KNOW whodunit...maybe an insight into "whydunnit" ....sorry didn't really happen. Unless you are a hardcore true crime unkie I would not recommend.
November 28, 2017
Hm. Den här boken hade kunnat vara så otroligt mycket mer spännande än den faktiskt var, hade nog knappt tagit mig igenom den om jag inte till slut lyssnade på 1,5x speed på ljudboken. Den är ganska kasst skriven, på en gång rörig och överdrivet detaljerad om saker som inte har med själva mordet att göra över huvudtaget. Den hade gärna vara mer kort och koncis, även om det inte ens är tjock bok från början.
April 21, 2020
Mosaic of Murder
The author expertly pieces together the events and accounts to reveal a complete picture. The reader is instantly captivated and then cautiously led through the tangle of events and characters. I immediately recommend this book to my friends who have been obsessed with true crime for decades and who are not easily drawn in because I knew they would find it as thrilling as I did.
The author expertly pieces together the events and accounts to reveal a complete picture. The reader is instantly captivated and then cautiously led through the tangle of events and characters. I immediately recommend this book to my friends who have been obsessed with true crime for decades and who are not easily drawn in because I knew they would find it as thrilling as I did.
April 17, 2020
There was a lot of unnecessary drama and foreshadowing added in an attempt to make this story more interesting, but it just made it more of a slog to get through. Also, I was not a fan of Therese Tang, and her choices towards the end of the book were not heroic but were reckless and seemed a bit self-serving.
November 30, 2018
This book read like fiction with the tv detective non fiction format. It was quite riveting. I read a lost of mysteries, and kept treating it as non fiction, then I’d remember it wasn’t, and would be horrified that two people could be so evil.
September 14, 2021
If I had to describe this true crime book in just a few words they would be "good, but too long." I enjoy true crime, and this missing person/homicide case is interesting, especially in how it is solved. However, the book drags in several places where the events could have been told more concisely. This book should have been much shorter.
The case of the missing landowner with the suspicion that his daughter and her boyfriend killed him makes for interesting reading. The way the truth is uncovered by a woman leading a missing persons group rather than by the police is also interesting. It would all make a great episode of a true crime documentary show. It just doesn't need to be a full length book. I found myself bored many times during the reading.
I will say this for the book: it is very well researched by the author. The events of the crime and the missing persons searches are described in great detail. I feel like I know all the ins and outs of the case.
Overall, I honestly wouldn't recommend this book. While the case and the people involved are engaging and thoroughly detailed, the reading experience is just too slow and tedious for my tastes.
The case of the missing landowner with the suspicion that his daughter and her boyfriend killed him makes for interesting reading. The way the truth is uncovered by a woman leading a missing persons group rather than by the police is also interesting. It would all make a great episode of a true crime documentary show. It just doesn't need to be a full length book. I found myself bored many times during the reading.
I will say this for the book: it is very well researched by the author. The events of the crime and the missing persons searches are described in great detail. I feel like I know all the ins and outs of the case.
Overall, I honestly wouldn't recommend this book. While the case and the people involved are engaging and thoroughly detailed, the reading experience is just too slow and tedious for my tastes.
August 12, 2022
The Dark Heart: A True Story of Greed, Murder, and an Unlikely Investigator was my first true crime read from outside the U.S. or U.K.
The story of the murder of Göran Lundblad by his daughter, Maria, and her boyfriend was heartbreaking. Killed in Förlösa, the police didn't have Lundblad's body or the evidence to prove his murder. This crime of greed went unsolved for quite some time and if it hadn't been for Therese Tang, a Missing People volunteer, this murder case would have probably have gone unsolved.
I enjoyed reading both Lundblad's story but also Tang's story. It's amazing that there are volunteer groups out there like Missing People and the amount of cooperation between Sweden's police departments and this organization truly help to solve missing people cases that could have gone unsolved forever.
The story of the murder of Göran Lundblad by his daughter, Maria, and her boyfriend was heartbreaking. Killed in Förlösa, the police didn't have Lundblad's body or the evidence to prove his murder. This crime of greed went unsolved for quite some time and if it hadn't been for Therese Tang, a Missing People volunteer, this murder case would have probably have gone unsolved.
I enjoyed reading both Lundblad's story but also Tang's story. It's amazing that there are volunteer groups out there like Missing People and the amount of cooperation between Sweden's police departments and this organization truly help to solve missing people cases that could have gone unsolved forever.
March 9, 2023
This book was painfully long when it could have been wrapped up in about 50 pages rather than 300+. It could have even been an article. I think I would have gotten the gist even from just reading the article’s title. At least then I wouldn’t have wasted four hours of my life on this. Every chapter felt like it said the exact same thing in a different way. Soooooo much backstory that was….irrelevant? to say the least. We all knew whodunnit by about page 12. The translator did a really good job, but aside from that I could not wait for this to be over.
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April 17, 2019Free on Kindle
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