I’ve always enjoyed reading about characters who have it together professionally but are a mess in their personal lives, which I think is why I enjoy Nordic crime fiction so much; the brilliant detective whose life is a shambles is a stock character. This book is a little bit different: The primary character, Siri Bergman, is a behavioral psychologist who is in desperate need of a behavioral psychologist. She drinks too much, she’s afraid of the dark, and she’s doing her absolute best to avoid working through her grief and anger. When she starts to suspect that someone is watching her, even stalking her, at first nobody believes her; after all, she’s a basket case.Siri’s own conflicts are mirrored in the book’s characters and setting. Her home is isolated, alone, outside the city where nights are fully dark. Her nightly ritual is to turn on every light in the house, even the stove light, before she goes to sleep. Yet she is fiercely resistant to the idea of moving into town, closer to friends and family. Her remote cottage works well with her forced aloofness toward the people in her life. Her patients—all of whom have control issues—play up her own need to maintain the illusory control that keeps her from facing the truth about her husband’s accidental death. Along with her patients, Siri must recognize that her self-destructive behavior is her way of protecting herself from the pain of life.Still, Siri appears to be in control of her medical practice—at least as much as she can be, considering someone is sending anonymous letters to her patients warning them of her incompetence. Siri’s confusion and frustration are palpable, as is her sense of being completely overwhelmed by what is going on around her. Who can she trust? Who would want to hurt her? What has she done that has made somebody so very angry? While the setup is familiar, the presentation is unique. One of the authors is a psychologist, and it shows; there’s a level of insight into the characters—not just Siri, but her patients and colleagues as well—that gives this more depth than the usual thriller. I chose this book because I was searching for a Scandinavian suspense. That it is. Siri, a psychologist, is being stalked in her cove side home by a killer from her, past, patients, friends?The tale twists and turns, but the solution is not really thrilling. She opens the door, and the killer is there. Subtle. Indirect. Unemotional. Also why do you keep returning to your out of the way house when you are being stalked? Anyway, it's a pretty good set-up-just wish the ending was a little mrs twisted.
What do You think about Die Therapeutin (2009)?
I received this book through the First Reads giveaway program on Goodreads. Review to follow!
—jogodin
Another very good Swedish author...can't wait for the English translation of the other books
—Sald
Måske har jeg bare læst for mange krimier.... Den var ok.
—Adub22
Udmærket svensk krimi - spændende og velskrevet :)
—fabiko02
