Marked for life by Emelie Schepp.
In Lindö, on the Swedish coast, a man has been found brutally murdered in his own home.The victim, Hans Juhlén, had no shortage of enemies. But the case stalls when a child’s handprint is found inches from where the dead man fell.Hans Juhlén had no children.Public prosecutor Jana Berzelius has perfected the art of maintaining a professional distance from her cases. But when the body of a small boy is found – and with him, the weapon that killed Juhlén – Jana’s impenetrability is tested to its limits.The small body is a bleak reminder that Jana has her own secrets to hide. And if she is to keep them safe, she must find the perpetrator behind these crimes…before the police do.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Great story and characters. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author. 5*.

please note I will not be leaving a public review for this book as I have not paid for it.
leaving a 1-star as NG will allow me to save this

This novel is not written with a light hand, nor it is an supremely sophisticated read, but it is a fun read (as much as we can call thriller being a fun book). It is catchy.

Young prosecutor Jana Berzelius works on a murder case, which gets complicated over time and might be tied to something much wider and more sinister. Might even be...personal.

Scandi noir is a genre itself and this novel has all the attributes - dark topics, aloofness of characters, enough big portion of violence - but also there is certain influence of American TV series visible. The darker vibes of the society are in play and one can only ask why do Swedes with their well-functioning society can think about things like these - might it be that there are some undercurrents?

All in all, I would continue to look for the brilliant sleuthing somewhere else. But I am very curious about the future of Jana Berzelius, too - which is always a sign of catchy read.

This is the start of a Swedish mystery series. We learn Jana's back story as the case she's working on progresses. She's been through horrible situations, and this feeds into the way she acts and interacts as an adult. There are many characters in this story, and most of them are given a lot of page time along with Jana, so though shes's the main character, the book isn't only her story.

I liked the mystery and the sinister feel of it. But maybe it's the translation or the style of the author's writing, but it felt too dry and matter-of-fact for me. It felt like I was reading the stage direction for actors in a play (this one is sad, this one seems angry) rather than feeling the character's emotions. I've read a lot of Scandinavian authors like Jo Nesbo, Stieg Larsson, and Camilla Grebe, but this felt too stiff for me. I'm curious to read more of Jana's story, so I'm not giving up on the series.

This was a great first installment in the Jana Berzelius trilogy. It kept my attention the whole time. So many different plot lines that all lead to the same source. Schepp does a great job of tying everything together. There are a lot of heavy triggers in this book, so steer clear if you don't care for that kind of subject matter. However, I don't want to disclose what those are for fear of spoiling. Let's just say like any trigger, they aren't particularly pleasant. But, it doesn't go into such detail that it's as offensive as some other titles I have read. I look forward to the next book in the installment!

Thanks to the author, NetGalley and HQ for the chance to review this.

2 stars for the first quarter of the book, which I really enjoyed. The writing is very good and I was highly interested in the characters and saw potential in the story line. But the author started delving into too much detail on the sexual and violent crimes, some against children. I just don't need those images in my mind, so this one is unfortunately not my cup of tea.

Thank you to HQ Publishing, via NetGalley, for a free digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. This is the first installment in a trilogy introducing us to public prosecutor Jane Berzelius. She is fairly young and detached from her job; her father was also a prosecutor and taught her how to distance herself to be the best at her job that she can be. A high profile death draws us in at the beginning of this story; everyone is a suspect and Jane must remain impartial to even the grieving widow

Great story! Looking forward to reading more by this author! Highly recommend!

I can't complain about the writing style because it was really good and at the start of the book I was excited about maybe finding another Scandinavian thriller writer to follow. Unfortunately I didn't continue with the excitement as I felt the plot turned too dark & way too many coincidences.

This was a highly energetic, fast paced read for me. Anyone who loves/ is a fan of swedish crime thrillers should definitely try this one out.
I loved the main character Jane Berzelius, the public prosecutor. She is bad-ass female lead.
I was excited to find out this is the first installment of more books with Jane to come!
Scandanavian mystery thrillers are one of my new favourite genres!
I can't wait for the next book in the series!!!

This is the 2nd Emilie Schepp book I've read. For some reason I find myself unable to connect with the characters emotionally. Jana is tightly wrapped, understandably so. Her past is a mystery she's desperately trying to solve. We get glimpses of it as she gets flashes of memories and it certainly seems to have been hellish. Despite that I couldn't muster any warmth towards her.
The case she's currently involved in, the murder of a young boy, brings her closer to the truth of her past and is the most interesting part of the book. The police team is OK, but again, I couldn't connect with them. The mystery is quite interesting if a little farfetched. At least I hope so; if it's based on true events, it would be horrifying...
Thank you, Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC.

I thought this book was fantastic with all the play on the killing of Hans Juhlin, and who killed him. It then goes off and changes players, but you don;t quite know how it's playing. The police and the prosecutor try to solve the mystery. A well thought out book with a clincher of an ending which promises more of the same.

I would like to thank Netgalley and HQ for a review copy of Marked for Life, the first novel in a series featuring public prosecuor Jana Berzelius, set in and around Norrkopping.

Hans Juhlen, head of Immigration, is found shot dead in his living room. The police are initially baffled as his wife assures them he has no enemies, is a dedicated civil servant and a nice guy. They are further baffled by finding a child's fingerprints at the scene. Jana Berzelius is assigned to the case as initial prosecutor. She is astonished as more evidence is uncovered to discover that it has links to the frightening dreams she has had since a child. Not knowing what it all means she launches her own investigation.

I enjoyed the journey in Marked for Life. It has plenty of twists and turns which kept me turning the pages. The plot is not realistic but I got caught up in the events so didn't stop to think about it too closely while reading. It follows a linear timeline interspersed with chapters in italics about a young illegal refugee and the horrors of her life.

The problem with the novel is the characterisation. One of the detectives, Inspector Mia Bolander, is a horror and it's hard to belive she's a police officer, never mind in a promoted post. She hates Jana, for no other reason than she comes from a more prileged background, and doesn't bother to hide it. She is rude with impunity and has other behavioural issues I won't get in to. Jana's story is more complicated but difficult to swallow, as are the actions of her parents. She is not a character you can warm to and her off piste antics do not gel with the cool, calm, professional exterior she presents. They also smack of panic, not a known trait of the psychopath she obviously is.

Marked for life is not a bad book, in fact it had me turning the pages feverishly to find out what was coming next, but its overall entirety lacks the plausibility I prefer in a novel. 3.5*

Thank you Net Galley. An interesting and well written book. Despite the obvious similarities with Steig Larsson's work, this was an engrossing read. The story and its telling are well done, keeping the reader hooked. The characters too are well delineated. Their little foibles and idiosyncrasies, their character flaws all make for an excellent read.. I look forward to reading more of Ms. Schepp's work.

I was just unable to get past the first few pages-too boring and detailed for me.

When a high ranking public official is murdered in his own home, prosecutor Jana Berzelius is called in to investigate. There are plenty of suspects to choose from, including the victim’s wife, but a strange clue, a child’s handprint at the scene, in a home where there are no children is baffling. Pieces of the puzzle start to fall into place when a preteen age boy is found dead, the weapon that killed him close by; the same weapon that killed the first victim. At the boy’s autopsy, Jana sees numbers carved into the boy’s skin and has a memory of something from her own dark past. Not all child trafficking involves the sex trade. Schepp, a Swedish writer, first self published this work, but now, it’s been picked up by a mainstream published and it’s not hard to see why. A dark, complex and twisted thriller, this is the first in a trilogy and comparisons to Steig Larsson will be inevitable