The Blood Spilt

A priest is found dead, mutilated beyond recognition and suspended from the organ in her church. The priest, Mildred Nilsson, was a feminist activist who galvanized a previously dormant small town outside of Kiruna in northern Sweden. Mildred’s work polarized the community: her enthusiastic supporters on one hand and those who loathed her on the other. Mildred had many enemies, but who had reason enough to kill her?

Kiruna-born lawyer Rebecka Martinsson has not dealt properly with the trauma she went through at the end of the previous book, Sun Storm. But when the law firm she works for has a project in Kiruna, she decides to come along. Once there, Rebecka is drawn to the woods, to the crisp air, to stay. But there is no calm homecoming in store for her this time either. Rebecka becomes entangled in the intrigues of the community and finds herself face to face with Mildred Nilsson’s wild-eyed murderer…

The Blood Spilt is the dramatic follow-up to Åsa Larsson’s immensely popular debut, Sun Storm. Rebecka Martinsson returns in a more vulnerable incarnation in this riveting thriller which was awarded Best Swedish Crime Novel of 2004 by the Swedish Crime Writers’ Academy. And police inspector Anna-Mella, with a baby son on her hip and characteristic resolve in her gaze, will save Rebecka’s life a second time…

Set in a glittering northern landscape, The Blood Spilt is a relentlessly suspenseful novel that exhibits Åsa Larsson’s unique combination of flawless plotting and psychological insight. It was named Best Swedish Crime Novel in 2004 by the Swedish Crime Writers’ Academy.