This was such a twisty and thrilling read, it gripped me right away and I didn't want to put it down.

This is the first book by Camilla Lackberg that I've read and after the first few chapters I almost gave up on it as there were so many characters and so many threads and not enough information to truly work out who was who and what their relationships are.
Henning Bauer and his wife Elizabeth are planning a party for their golden wedding anniversary and family and friends have gathered for the event. Henning is also expecting the greatest accolade for his writing - the award of the Nobel Prize for Literature. All goes well with the party but the following morning Rolf Stenklo, a photographer, and friend of the couple is found dead in his gallery just across the road from the party venue. The police begin an investigation and a web of intrigue dating back to the 1980's is uncovered.
After a slow start the plot speeds up and the need for the separate threads becomes clear. This is a fast paced thriller, with several twists as the history of a group of friends is unravelled, and a multitude of revelations at the end.
I enjoyed the character of Henning who was totally unlovely - in fact several of the characters were very dislikable - but the police team come across with as compassionate and competent. A little humour when Erica's kitchen is revamped while she is away lights and otherwise dark plot.
With thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction for an arc copy in return for an honest review.

I have really enjoyed the Patrik Hedstrom series so was thrilled to see that the author has created us another version, once again a mystery that ties the past to the present.

As with all crime fiction series, the appeal is as much in getting the updates of the regulars as well as understanding the crime being investigated, and once again Camilla Lackberg gets the balance just right.

They mystery in this case only reaches back to the 1980s but it is no less intriguing for that. What happened to an elite group of creatives back then that links them to the murder of one of their number whilst setting up an exhibition of his photos.

Suffice to say the storyline touches on the changes that have occurred over the last forty odd years.

Cleverly executed crime fiction novel

Another brilliant story by camilla lackberg. If you follow the series you'll love this. However, it can be read as a standalone. Highly recommended xx

I seem to be making a habit of plunging into series at the tail end at the moment but when the characters are strong enough it doesn’t seem to matter too much.

In this instance things can get a little confusing at the outset because there are lots of characters and two different timelines but bear with the initial confusion if you’re new to the series and all will become clear.

Lackberg has created a central couple, Patrik Hedstrom
who is a policeman and his journalist wife, Erica Falck. Together they begin to unravel the contemporary death of a photographer and the historical death of a transgender woman and her daughter.

Interwoven in their pursuit of the truth, Lackberg finds time to add details in the lives of the investigators which adds both pathos and humour.

An interesting read that will tempt mystery fans to seek out others in the series.

With thanks to the author, translator, publisher and NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a good read! There were many twists and turns and I didn’t realise who the perpetrator was until the end. Always a bonus! There are some flashbacks to 1980 and I did wonder how it would connect with the present story. The way everything fitted together was amazing. I had a job to put this book down. I hadn’t read anything by this author before but I will be looking out for more of her books. I received a copy and have voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts are opinions are my own.

As a heavy mist rolls into the Swedish coastal town of Fjällbacka, shocking violence shakes the small community to its core. Rolf Stenklo, a famous photographer, is found murdered in his gallery. Two days later, a brutal tragedy on a private island leaves the prestigious Bauer family devastated. With his boss acting strangely, Detective Patrik Hedström is left to lead the investigation.
This is the first book which I’ve read by the author & I thoroughly enjoyed this well written thriller & I’ll certainly go back & read the rest of the series. It’s easily read on its own I didn’t feel like I was treading through mud to catch up. The characters were well portrayed & had depth most I disliked but a few I liked especially Patrik. The pace is good, there are edge of the seat moments before all is revealed.
I voluntarily read and reviewed a special copy of this book; all thoughts and opinions are my own

Another Camilla great. This series is great I never get tired of the characters and has left lots of questions to be answered can’t wait for the next installment

I have always adored Camilla Lackberg’s books, and this one didn’t disappointed. You will read it all in one breath, and you’ll have to finish it soon to be able to breath again. I loved and highly recommmend it.

This is set on a small island in Sweden. a famous photographer is found dead.
Two days later another disturbing tragedy hits the island. What is the connection? Is there one?
Detective Patrik Hedström heads up the investigation.
Patrik’s wife Erica decides to follow up an unsolved murder in the photographers past and soon realises that the deaths are linked.
Who is hiding what and why?

I hadn’t realised that this book was part of a series so found the numerous character who peppered the initial part of the book were confusing and in many cases irrelevant to the plot. I liked the timelines of current and 1980 with clear chapter titles but found the current chapters difficult as there was no delineation between one character and another - admittedly this could be an arc formatting issue and not repeated in the published version. It seemed like Erica, the author and wife of the policeman, Patrik was better at solving the murder than the police force, which seemed to consist of only 5 people. This in itself was frustrating as I don’t believe any police force in any country would allow a 5 man squad of local officers to investigate multiple murders - but maybe this is the Swedish way. I confess that I nearly gave up around 15% in, however I did finish the book but found the ending rushed and unbelievable. Also is it just my memory but I’m pretty sure I read the gun was left by the body in 1980 but appears again in modern times?

This is the first book I’ve read by Camilla. It’s riveting. A real page-turner, with so many events & emotions. At first there is a character overload, so I read the first chapter twice. There’s a dual timeline. The events in 1980 are key. There’s two investigations going on in the now. One by the police officer’s author wife as she researches for her next book. Things are revealed slowly & meticulously. There’s a very complicated web of relationships, & how they all fit together. The plot is complex. The title of the book is the clue to the identity, but of whom? Who is The Cuckoo?
I

4.5 stars
Camilla Läckberg is one of my favorite crime fiction authors, and I was completely engaged in this book!. It has been several years since there has been a new book in the Fjallbacka/Patrik Hedstrom-Erica Falck, so I was so excited to read this one. It's the eleventh in the series and I have read all of the prior books. The central mystery stands on its own, but it's easier to appreciate some of the developments in the lives of the main characters if you've read some of the earlier books.

The book includes two timelines, the present and 1980. This method works well in telling this story when it's clear that current crimes could be tied to events from the past. I love how Erica, a true crime writer, is able to make huge contributions to the case her police detective husband, Patrik, is working on. I love their marriage and the way they work together, so it's always great catching up with what is going on in their lives. Readers also get to catch up on the other members of Patrik's team and some of them are going through their own issues.

The initial case involves a renowned photographer who is shot in his gallery right before the opening of his latest show. Things get very dark as there are further deaths. Although there aren't graphic descriptions, this may not be the book for everyone because the deaths of children are involved. There are several plot twists in this book, some I predicted but many were very surprising. Although parts of the story were heartbreaking, I still enjoyed the book and hope the wait for a new Patrik and Erica book is shorter this time.

I received an advance copy of this book at no cost from NetGalley and Harper Collins UK. My review is voluntary and unbiased.

A little hard to follow with all the names and cities in this one but, a fast paced thriller which intrigued me. Cleverly written I enjoyed this one. My thanks to netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

This was actually my first title in this series, although I've read books by Läckberg before. Because this is already the 11th book in the series, it was not really easy to get into the story because of the numerous characters and their (sometimes complicated) family and work relations.
The story of Lola was in fact heart-breaking and her death set so many things in motion that came to light a whole generation later.

For me, the story was a bit unbalanced because there is not much happening in the first half of the book. Well, people run around, talk, there is a death, the police gets involved and so on, but the real story unfolds at a higher pace in the second half of the book.
At the end, there are a few surprises on top of the already surprising plot twist and I liked the ending(s).

Now I think I have to go back and read reviews of earlier books in this series to see which of the characters in this book are the important ones (obviously not the characters that die in this story). There are so many deaths in The Cuckoo that I at one point thought that at the end nobody would be left for another book in this series.

Am I disappointed? Maybe a little because it was hard work keeping track of so many characters who are almost all related and who change houses all the time. On the other hand I liked the story as such and I think fans of this series will be happy with this one.

Thanks to HarperCollins and Netgalley for this review copy.

Scandi Noir with lots of twists. At first confusing due to having so many characters and two time-frames, this is a great read. Love the setting of the Swedish coast, where a group of friends meets to celebrate a golden wedding. One of the guests, a well-known photographer, is about to hold an exhibition which includes a mysterious picture that no-one has seen before. Then he's found dead, the photo missing. His is not the only death as the story builds up to a dramatic climax.

This is a really excellent murder mystery, with as many twists and turns as a reader could want, and a chilling and unexpected ending too. Society photographer Rolf is murdered in his studio on the night of a glittering party for the upper echelons of Sweden’s society and cultural life. Rolf was preparing an exhibition centred on a trans woman, Lola, who was murdered along with her small daughter many years before. The two murders were clearly linked, with the story of how gradually unfurling as the book progressed. The first few chapters needed real concentration to work out who was connected to whom, but once each of the characters was clearly identified the book was riveting to the final word. The settings here were a character in themselves, with a very fine sense of place throughout the book.

My thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins publishers for an ARC of this book in exchange for an independent review. What a joy to have another of these novels. I've read and loved them all. Just a good old-fashioned murder mystery with the same characters. It could be a British series, except that it is set in Sweden. It doesn't ask anything of the reader, but that the story is enjoyed. This can be read as a stand-alone novel, but some background of the core characters could be useful. Through the series, we have watched their lives progress

I'm sure these tales would be enjoyed by fans of Elly Griffiths Ruth Galloway series Just for once I guessed the perpetrator early on, but certainly not all the intricacies, connections, and twists and turns. The ending is very complex and large pieces of the book are extremely dark. If this is your first story in the series, I guarantee you will then want to go back to the beginning to catch up. I envy you the joy of finding this series for the first time.

Thank you so much to Harper Collins for allowing me to review The Cuckoo and also to Netgalley.

This is a scandi noir novel which starts with everyone getting ready to celebrate the golden wedding anniversary of Henning and Elisabeth who come from Swedish Cultural royalty. Some of the characters seem to love the couple and some feel very differently.

After the party Rolf, who is a famous photographer, is found murdered and the towns police are involved.

There are several story lines running though this novel. Lola and her daughter are introduced through sections written in the 80s and you gey to understand how these interweave with the family saga of Henning and Elisabeth. There is also the story of Erica, an author and her husband Patrik, one of the polce who are investigating the murder.

This book is obviously part of a series but I read it as a stand alone novel and found that it worked well, I will revisit other works in the series by Camilla Lackberg. This was really well written and there was a lot of things going on st the same time.

I don't want to say to much and risk giving spoilers but I really enjoyed this novel, found some of the characters to be interesting and it kept me entertained, in fact, during the middle section I could hardly put it down.

Really great work and a must for anyone who likes a good murder and scandi noir books.

I'm not familiar with the author's writing and I didn't know that this book is part of a series of thrillers that follow some characters, so I can't say if these characteristics are exclusive to this book or if they are all like that. The book is told in two time periods and added to the huge number of characters that the story follows, I was overwhelmed with information in the first chapters. My head would get dizzy trying to keep track of who was who and it took me a long time to actually get caught up in the story and the reading could flow. Furthermore, in many cases the characters did not add anything to the general context of the plot and were there perhaps to be mentioned since it is a series and fans already know them? -. For me, reading it for the first time, it was unnecessary and disrupted the pace.

However, once I got familiar with it, I enjoyed the overall ride with this group of characters, the settings in Sweden, and how the story unfolded. My only complaint, besides the overload of characters, is the ending. Like, I like a big reveal, but here we have one reveal, and then another, and another, until you feel like the author panicked and threw as much as she could at the end. It really detracted from the experience, because I had to swallow yet another “Oh my God” moment in what until then was a well thought out and contained story.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.