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The Lonely Ones

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The Lonely Ones

By: Håkan Nesser, Sarah Death - translator
Narrated by: Martin Wenner
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About this listen

'One of the best Nordic Noir writers' Guardian


A trip behind the Iron Curtain would change their lives forever . . .

It begins in 1969. Six young people arrive in Uppsala, Sweden. Different circumstances push the three young couples together and, over the course of a few years, they become friends. But a summer trip through Eastern Europe changes everything, and when their time at Uppsala University is over it also signals the end of something else.

Years later, a lecturer at Lund University is found dead at the bottom of a cliff in the woods close to Kymlinge. And chillingly, it is the very same spot where one of the Uppsala students died thirty-five years before.

Detective Inspector Gunnar Barbarotti takes on this ominous case of history repeating itself, and is forced to confront an increasingly grave reality.

The Lonely Ones is the fourth novel of Håkan Nesser’s quintet about Inspector Gunnar Barbarotti.

 Crime Fiction International Mystery & Crime Mystery Police Procedural Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Crime

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Critic reviews

The godfather of Swedish crime
A master of suspense
One of the best Nordic Noir writers
One of Sweden's best crime writers
All stars
Most relevant
This is the first book in the series I’ve listened to. Be aware that gang rape by four soldiers or police is described in one chapter. The detectives don’t really solve the mystery of two deaths at the same place, there’s a confession at the end. This is a psychological character study of six friends, besides the two detectives. It is well written and disturbing. A melancholy affecting book. By the end you will probably see how the pieces fitted together before the reveal, but this is of no consequence.

Coffee & Pathos

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This one is among the three best audio books I have ever listened to. I enjoyed every line of it and I'm sad I finished it today.

One of the best!

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I rarely review books but I just love Hakans style of writing. His characters are so interesting, human, so detailed....it all just pootles along with crikey moments. My absolute favourite crime writer along with Robert Galbraith.

Really enjoyable

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This was soooo slow. This is the third or fourth novel in the Barboretti series and I've found them, on the whole, to be generally quite dull. I'm not gripped by the storyline (despite the subject matter) and even less intrigued or motivated to feel interested or get invested in either of the Barboretti or Bachman characters. I haven't felt drawn in at all. The one exception is The Secret Life of Mr Roos which was quite compelling. But overall, I'm done and won't be reading any more in this series.

Nothing stood out, sorry

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