Son by Johana Gustawsson &Thomas Enger
Expert on body language and memory, and consultant to the Oslo Police, psychologist Kari Voss sleepwalks through her days, and, by night, continues the devastating search for her young son, who disappeared on his birthday, seven years earlier.
Still grieving for her dead husband, and trying to pull together the pieces of her life, she is thrust into a shocking local investigation, when two teenage girls are violently murdered in a family summer home in the nearby village of Son.
When a friend of the victims is charged with the barbaric killings, it seems the case is closed, but Kari is not convinced. Using her skills and working on instinct, she conducts her own enquiries, leading her to multiple suspects, including people who knew the dead girls well..
With the help of Chief Constable Ramona Norum, she discovers that no one - including the victims - are what they seem. And that there is a dark secret at the heart of Son village that could have implications not just for her own son's disappearance, but Kari's own life, too…..
About the authors
Known as the Queen of French Noir, Johana Gustawsson is one of France's most highly regarded, award-winning crime writers, recipient of the prestigious Cultura Ligue de l'Imaginaire Award for her gothic mystery Yule Island. Number-one bestselling books include Block 46, Keeper, Blood Song and her historical thriller, The Bleeding. Johana lives in Sweden with her family. A former journalist, Thomas Enger is the number-one bestselling author of the Henning Juul series and, with co-author Jorn Lier Horst, the international bestselling Blix & Ramm series, and one of the biggest proponents of the Nordic Noir genre. He lives in Oslo. Rights to Johana and Thomas' books have been sold to a combined fifty countries and, for the first time, two crime writers, from two different countries, writing in two different languages, have joined forces to create an original series together.
Review
When I heard that Thomas and Johana were going to be collaborating on a brand new series together, ‘Son’ automatically became my most anticipated read of 2025. Both are favourite authors of mine but boy have they collided and made a stellar piece of crime fiction! I devoured it. Didn't even read the blurb. I dived straight in and then it was suddenly the end and I was bereft it was finished! Now that is an achievement in itself as my reading has been all over the place, my attention span is dreadful. Normally by now I would have read about 50 books this year - this makes number 9. Why am I telling you this you may ask?! It shows that this was a belter of a read, it is attention grabbing and holds on relentlessly to its readers till that final scene, that really knocks you off your feet. I read this in one sitting and I wish it was a book that I was still waiting to read so I could experience it for the first time all over again!
Johana and Thomas have created an outstanding protagonist in Dr Kari Voss. She is quick-thinking, has an inner strength of steel. She is a woman haunted by her past but is trying to give herself a future. A renown psychologist and body language expert, she is dubbed ‘the human lie detector’ and she uses this talent to help the police in their investigations. I instantly became beguiled by her story and just wanted to know more about her. She has suffered greatly - her son Vetle went missing on his 9th birthday and was never found. She desperately hopes his is alive and I think this is what drives her. That alone would be enough to create a multilayered and interesting character but she has also lost her husband in a fire at their winter cabin. The author's portrayal of her grief is profoundly authentic and resonates strongly throughout the book.
I am always intrigued when authors join forces about their process and how they work together. If I had picked this book up blind I would never had realised as this was a seamless prose with a singular and distinct voice. Apparently, Johana and Thomas wrote in their natives languages of French and Norwegian and then when it was completed they rewrote the book into the common language which was English. But again you would never know this as has been edited beautifully. It really is humbling to read something this brilliant and I know this review won't do it justice. Just read it people!!
Seven years after the disappearance of her son, Kari’s community is once again rocked to its core. Two of her son’s friends have been found brutally murdered and Kari is asked to assist the police on their investigation. By using her body language skills she is able to direct the police on who is lying about what and we soon learn that everyone is lying! But when she learns that the main suspect of the murders is another friend of her son’s she is shocked. Despite all the forensic evidence pointing to them Kari doesn't believe they has committed the crime and is determined to uncover the truth. She starts to investigate herself, in different directions to the police and soon is entangled in a complex web of lies, alliances and conflicting evidence.
This book is truly breathtaking and powerful. It was a joy to read and I honestly can't wait to get the next instalment in my hands.
