Anna Jansson is a prolific Swedish crime writer,but
'Killer Island',published by Stockholm Text as part of
their Scandinavian Crime Series,is her first novel to be
translated into English.It is the eleventh in the Detective
Maria Vern series,and is set on the Swedish island of Gotland.
Walking home after a long day.Maria sees a boy being violently
attacked in the street.She tries to rescue him ,but ends up
in hospital with various injuries,and having had a needle
injected into her.Meanwhile the boy dies in hospital.The plot
then becomes complex yet enthralling,as several seemingly
ritualistic murders follow,with the perpetrator always one
step ahead of the investigating police.
This is an ambitious novel with various sub plots,involving
well-drawn characters,a touch of local myth ,and it also
adresses some social and medical ethical issues. Well worth
reading.