I STUNDENS HETTA – IN THE HEAT OF THE MOMENT

BY STEN, VIVECA

Everybody carries their own truth – but which one will lead to the murderer?

Midsummer weekend in Sandhamn. A cluster of white boats have gathered in the harbour and the docks have been taken over by inebriated teenagers. A young girl stumbles through the crowds of people. Nobody hears her cries for help as she collapses in the sand by the promenade.
By the time that the police find the girl she is unconscious and they realise that she is not only in a state of shock, but that she also has a significant amount of narcotics in her body. What has happened to her?

Nora Linde is about to celebrate her first Midsummer together with her new love, Jonas. But the celebration turns into anguish when Jonas’s teenage daughter Wilma doesn’t come home. There is no answer on her mobile phone. Wilma is vanished without a trace.

Early the next morning, a dead body is found on the beach in Skärkarlshamn. Nora’s childhood friend, inspector Thomas Andreasson, is called to Sandhamn. At the same time Nora and Jonas continue their desperate search for Wilma.

During the investigation Thomas realises how subjective the truth can be. Everybody involved has their own version of events. Who is the victim and who is the murderer in the midst of the Midsummer’s night?

First published by Forum, Sweden, 2012.
344 pages.

Czech Republic, Vydavatelstvi Vikend
Denmark, Rosinante
Estonia, Pegasus
Finland, WSOY
France, Albin Michel
Germany, Kiepenheuer & Witsch
Italy, Marsilio
The Netherlands, Querido
Norway, Strawberry
Poland, Storytel
Spain, Maeva
Sweden, Forum
US, AmazonCrossing

Sweden, Filmlance

“I stundens hetta” is an extremely profound novel. A crime novel, yet something else. It has so much more – a depth, a message and a story that will leave no one untouched, including the author. “I cried when I wrote certain parts”, she said in an interview, and even if I didn’ t cry when I read about the teenagers during the midsummer celebrations at Sandhamn, I will admit that my eyes misted over more than once. There, I´ve said it, even a critic can go soft. 
VLT

She describes completely brilliantly a world with lost and drunk teenagers and distant adults who couldn’ t care less. It is spot-on, both with regard to the dialogue and the intrigue.
…She now belongs to the Swedish elite of crime writers, if she carries on like this she will very soon sit on its throne. This is both an important and an entertaining, thrilling book.
DAST Magazine

After reading the fifth book, ”I stundens hetta”, I can only conclude that she just gets better and better. This is a page-turner, in my opinion. A perfect summer read!
Norran

A wonderful story about the Swedish midsummer, both its joy and its dark sides… It is a truly well-written, believable and entertaining crime novel by Viveca Sten
Litteraturmagazinet

Viveca Sten

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