Blood Song by Johana Gustawsson (translated by David Warriner)

And so my Johana Gustawsson binge comes to an end with Blood Song. And, honestly, I'm bereft. I have enjoyed these books so much. A huge thank you to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part, and to Karen Sullivan at Orenda for my review copy.

The Blurb:

The third book in the award-winning, critically acclaimed Roy & Castells series, featuring true-crime writer Alexis Castells and profiler Emily Roy.

Spain, 1938
The country is wracked by civil war, and as Valencia falls to Franco’s brutal dictatorship, Republican Teresa witnesses the murders of her family. Captured and sent to the notorious Las Ventas women’s prison, Teresa gives birth to a daughter who is forcibly taken from her.

Falkenberg, Sweden, 2016
A wealthy family is found savagely murdered in their luxurious home. Discovering that her parents have been slaughtered, Aliénor Lindbergh, a new recruit to the UK’s Scotland Yard, rushes back to Sweden and finds her hometown rocked by the massacre.

Profiler Emily Roy joins forces with Aliénor and her colleague, true-crime writer Alexis Castells, and they soon find themselves on the trail of a monstrous and prolific killer, in an investigation that takes them from the Swedish fertility clinics of the present day back to the terror of Franco’s rule, and the horrifying events that took place in Spanish orphanages under its rule…

Blood Song will be published on 19th September 2019 by Orenda Books. It is available to pre order from Waterstones, Amazon UK, Amazon US and other good bookshops.

My Review:

Oh my days! Having worried that they wouldn't be for me, I then proceeded to read all three Roy and Castells books back to back (see my reviews of Block 46 here and Keeper here) and they were all brilliant. But I think this is the strongest of the three.

Again, the story moves between the present day and the past.  As we've come to expect, the present day action moves between London and Falkenberg. Aliénor Lindburgh is now working at Scotland Yard, studying under Emily to become a profiler. Alexis is spending a lot of time in Sweden planning a big event, with the help of her mother (who I love). Then Aliénor receives the awful news that her parents, who ran an infertility clinic, and her sister have been horribly murdered in their home. She returns to Sweden, accompanied by Emily who has become quite protective of her. Alexis goes to be with her friends and to see what she might be able to do to help.

Meanwhile, we are also taken back to 1938 during the Spanish Civil War and Franco's brutal regime. Teresa's family is murdered and she is imprisoned in a women's prison where she gives birth to a daughter who is taken from her and placed into an awful, cruel orphanage. This is a period of history that I was terribly ignorant about and the statistics that the author provides in a note at the start of the book make for truly horrific reading. Gustawsson has clearly researched this period and what happened, particularly to women and children, and this shines through her writing.

In present day Sweden, the team dig deep into the Lindburgh family's past and possible irregularities with IVF treatments. The further they dig, the more murky things become. It's obviously a particularly difficult time for Aliénor, but I liked that we are able to learn a little more about her.

Of course, I can't tell you what happens - you need to read the book for that! But I can tell you that Emily and Alexis are a dream team and it is so great to see two strong women taking centre stage. They are surrounded by a great team of wonderful, mostly returning, characters, and each and every one of them is exquisitely crafted. And a big shout out here to David Warriner for the great translation.

The story is intelligent and complex, the two timelines are eventually wound together, and I read the book almost in one sitting, I was so hooked. Beautifully written, I didn't predict the ending at all, and there was one particular moment that was a complete shock. I felt this was the case that touched Emily and Alexis the most - it certainly affected me the most. The descriptions of life in Spain for Teresa and her daughter really pulled at my emotions, some of Aliénor's scenes were heartbreaking and the denouement blew me away. And then the very final scene made me cry. Just beautiful.

I described Block 46 as a triumph, and I very much enjoyed Keeper - they are really great  - but for me Blood Song beats both. It is a beautiful book, and another one that will stay with me for a long time. I can't recommend this book, and indeed the whole series, enough. And I really hope there's more to come.

Just one quick question - is it common for Swedish weddings to have in excess of twenty speeches?! Really? 😱


The Author:

Born in Marseille, France, and with a degree in Political Science, Johana Gustawsson has worked as a journalist for the French and Spanish press and television. Her critically acclaimed Roy & Castells series, including Block 46 and Keeper, has won the Plume d’Argent, Balai de la découverte, Balai d’Or and Prix Marseillais du Polar awards, and is now published in nineteen countries. A TV adaptation is currently underway in a French, Swedish and UK co-production. Johana lives in London with her Swedish husband and their three sons.