The Ice Child cover art

The Ice Child

Patrik Hedström and Erica Falck, Book 9

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About this listen

No. 1 international bestseller and Swedish crime sensation Camilla Lackberg’s new psychological thriller featuring Detective Patrik Hedström and Erica Falck – irresistible for fans of Stieg Larsson and Jo Nesbo.

SEE NO EVIL
It’s January in the peaceful seaside resort of Fjällbacka. A semi-naked girl wanders through the woods in freezing cold weather. When she finally reaches the road, a car comes out of nowhere. It doesn’t manage to stop.

HEAR NO EVIL
The victim, a girl who went missing four months ago, has been subjected to unimaginably brutal treatment – and Detective Patrik Hedström suspects this is just the start.

SPEAK NO EVIL
The police soon discover that three other girls are missing from nearby towns, but there are no fresh leads. And when Patrik’s wife stumbles across a link to an old murder case, the detective is forced to see his investigation in a whole new light.

©2015 Camilla Lackberg (P)2015 HarperCollins Publishers Limited Action & Adventure Detective Fiction Mystery Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Police Procedural Thriller & Suspense Women Sleuths Women's Fiction Crime Suspense

Critic reviews

"The hottest female writer in Sweden." ( Independent)
"Heart-stopping and heart-warming...a masterclass in Scandinavian crime writing." (Val McDermid)
"Pacy...with flashing insight into the dark places of the psyche." ( Sunday Times)
"Lackberg is an expert at mixing scenes of domestic cosiness with blood-curdling horror." ( Guardian)
"Both chilling and thrilling." ( Sun)
All stars
Most relevant
Loved it. Although the jumping around got a bit confusing due to the lack of pauses or breaks between chapters/scenes. Amazing twist at the end.

I could not stop listening!!!

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Great story. I was very surprised that Camilla was introduced as Camilla Lackberry though! Very sloppy and unprofessional.

As always, a stunning story

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Any additional comments?

I agree with the review from LMV. I have listened to all the previous books in the series and enjoyed them. For this one the translation is weak and with Robin Bowerman's mellifluous tone it made the whole experience like listening to an Enid Blyton Famous Five book. The editing too was clearly rushed with hardly a breath taken by Robin Bowerman between scenes so that you lose track of where and when you are in the story. However, the storyline was intriguing if a little far fetched at the end.

Questionable translation

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I love Camilla Lackberg books but the audio version of the latest is a bit frustrating.
Firstly the narrator gets the authors name wrong ('Camilla Lackberry', more than once), he messed up pronouns of characters, and says a few words incorrectly.
Also the editing is clearly a rush job & there are hardly any pauses when scenes change so it's confusing.
Lastly I don't know if it is the translation or if Camilla Lackberg is not up to par for this book, but the writing, phrases used & descriptions seem a bit lazy (the same sentence used within pages of each other).
The story itself is enjoyable but these annoying issues have really spoiled this for me.

Audiobook is disappointing - rush job?

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This was a good atmospheric story slowed down somewhat by the author's focus on the rather unbelievably cosy domestic life of the married couple who are the main protagonists. As often happens with audio books any repetition or slow patches in the narrative are more obvious than when you read them yourself, well, I think. Still, this is better than lots of other crime offerings in the audible shop.

Good story but a bit too much domestic detail

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