Swapped for at Camping Val d'Aleth, Alet let Bains, France

I liked the unusual angle of this Scandinavian crime novel which follows the main suspect after a murder is committed. This approach reminded me of The Unknown Terrorist by Richard Flanagan. Sybilla, in Missing, is homeless and a former inmate of a mental institution which makes her the perfect suspect for the police. She isn't destitute though and far from the populist drug-addled junkie image so this gives her the capacity to remain invisible - for a while at least. Alvtegen jumps between following Sybilla on the run after the murder and showing us aspects of her financially privileged upbringing. This adds great depth to her character and I thoroughly enjoyed the first three-quarters of this thriller.

Unfortunately, Alvtegen then swerves into far more run-of-the-mill territory and, I thought, squandered her great set-up with a not particularly believable and far too swift conclusion. I even wondered if the book initially finished differently and crime novel staples of 'amateur detective spots vital clue' and 'spurious hostage situation' were thrust into the storyline at a later date! It's a shame because up until that point I was looking forward to checking out more of her books after finishing this one. Now I am not so sure that I want to risk the potential disappointment again.

On the book exchange shelves in Reception