'An impressive debut novel' The Times

'Fantastic' Guardian

Can you ever come to terms with a missing child? Julia Davidsson has not. Her five-year-old son disappeared twenty years previously on the Swedish island of Oland. No trace of him has ever been found.

Until his shoe arrives in the post. It has been sent to Julia's father, a retired sea-captain still living on the island. Soon he and Julia are piecing together fragments of the past: fragments that point inexorably to a local man called Nils Kant, known to delight in the pain of others. But Nils Kant died during the 1960s. So who is the stranger seen wandering across the fields as darkness falls?

It soon becomes clear that someone wants to stop Julia's search for the truth. And that he's much, much closer than she thinks . . .

Winner of the CWA Best Debut Crime Novel 2009: a haunting first novel about a missing child.

About the Author
Throughout his life, Johan Theorin has been a regular visitor to the Baltic Island of OEland. His mother's family - sailors, fishermen and farmers - have lived there for centuries, nurturing the island's rich legacy of strange tales and folklore. A journalist by profession, Johan is currently working on the third novel.

Reviews
Evocative and haunting, with a subtle sense of menace that grows with each page -- Simon Beckett, author of The Chemistry of Death
An impressive debut novel...Theorin's excellence in conveying bleak atmosphere is matched by his insight into sensitive family relationships * THE TIMES *
Fantastic... Theorin's prose is wonderfully descriptive * GUARDIAN *
There is warmth in Theorin's narrative and the gradual piecing together of the story leads to an unexpected denouement * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *
Sheer storytelling grip such as this is relatively rare. A particular strength is the evocation of locale and atmosphere here; it is masterfully done * THE GOOD BOOK GUIDE *


Awards
Winner of CWA New Blood Dagger 2009.



Book Information
ISBN 9780552774635
Author Johan Theorin
Format Paperback
Page Count 480
Imprint Black Swan
Publisher Transworld Publishers Ltd
Weight(grams) 326g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 127mm * 29mm