Saturday, March 7, 2020

Review: BLOOD SONG

BLOOD SONG by Johana Gustawsson, translated by David Warriner (Orenda Books, 2019)

Reviewed by Craig Sisterson

Spain, 1938: The country is wracked by civil war, and as Valencia falls to Franco’s brutal dictatorship, Republican Therese witnesses the murders of her family. Captured and sent to the notorious Las Ventas women’s prison, Therese 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 soon finds herself on the trail of a monstrous and prolific killer. Little does she realise that this killer is about to change the life of her colleague, true-crime writer Alexis Castells. Joining forces once again, Roy and Castells’ investigation 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

The third entry in the excellent Emily Roy and Alexis Castells series follows on from Gustawsson’s award-winning debut, BLOCK 46, which blended contemporary crimes in Sweden and the UK with historic horrors from Buchenwald concentration camp, and KEEPER, which had a present-and-past structure entwined with Jack the Ripper’s sadistic spree across Victorian London.

This time Roy and Castells are hunting a dangerous killer who strikes close to them, as a new Scotland Yard recruit’s wealthy family is found massacred back in Sweden. BLOOD SONG traverses issues from modern fertility clinics back to the terrors of the Spanish Civil War and Franco’s subsequent dictatorship.

Gustawsson crafts a tale that is deeply disturbing and yet captivating. She doesn’t shy away from the true-to-history atrocities of a past era and regime that has perhaps gone somewhat overlooked, relative to others. BLOOD SONG is not an easy read, but it is hard to stop reading.

Gustawsson does a fine job setting the hook then reeling us in across some jagged and painful ground. She is showing herself to be a masterful storyteller going from strength to strength, whose dark tales are brought to English-speaking readers thanks to an adroit translation from Canadian David Warriner. While I wouldn't recommended this novel or this series for cosy-only crime lovers, I do think it is very very good; a vivid and exciting tale for those who can handle the darker edge.


Craig Sisterson is a lawyer turned features writer from New Zealand, now living in London. In recent years he’s interviewed hundreds of crime writers and talked about the genre on national radio, top podcasts, and onstage at books festivals on three continents. He has been a judge of the Ned Kelly Awards and the McIlvanney Prize, and is founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards and co-founder of Rotorua Noir. You can heckle him on Twitter. 

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