Häxan – The Girl in the Woods

by Camilla Läckberg

A missing child
When a four-year-old girl disappears in the woods outside Fjällbacka, people are horror-struck. Thirty years ago, a child went missing from the same spot, and was later discovered, murdered.

A murder
Back then, two teenage girls were found guilty of the killing. Could one of them be the culprit this time? Detective Patrik Hedström starts investigating, with his wife, bestselling crime writer Erica Falck, by his side.

A community torn apart
But as Patrik and Erica dig deeper, it seems that everyone in the tight-knit community is hiding something. And soon, the residents must confront the fact that there could be a murderer in their midst…

First published by Forum, April 2017

650 pages

Bulgaria, Colibri
Bulgaria, Storytel
Catalan, Ara Llibres
Czech Republic, Albatros Media
Denmark, People’s Press
Estonia, Pegasus
Finland, Gummerus
France, Actes Sud
Germany, Ullstein
Greece, Metaixmio
Hungary, Animus
Iceland, Sogur
Italy, Marsilio
Latvia, Jumava
The Netherlands, Ambo Anthos
Norway, Gyldendal
Poland, Czarna Owca
Portugal, Dom Quixote
Romania, Editura Trei
Russia, Exmo
Slovakia, Slovart
Slovenia, Ucila
Spain, Maeva
Sweden, Forum
UK, HarperCollins

“A satisfying and counterintuitive clash between the cosy and gruesome strands of the genre”
Guardian

“Domesticity and brutality are Lackberg staples… Tightly plotted… Unflinching”
Sunday Times

“The Girl in the Woods” [is] also a book that cleverly connects three timetables and draws interesting thematic parallels. … Läckberg convincingly and scary depicts how each time holds its own witch processes, while creating a sheer page turner despite its 600 pages.
Skånska Dagbladet

I am delighted to read the story of the little girls who disappear thirty years apart. Was it other children who killed the first girl? Are the new killers new arrivals in the refugee settlement? In the periphery of the story, two lonely young people meet. Läckberg tells us about a contemporary Sweden with ordinary people.
Dagens Nyheter

Läckberg’s storytelling is flowing and unrestrained.
Nerikes Allehanda

She is doing well with the fortelling of the young and liable couple Jessie and Sam. /…/ Jessie’s desperate longing for being accepted and well-liked really hurts, like Sam’s knowledge that what he cares about will be exploited once more. There is a darkness over society in general and Fjällbacka in particular. “The Girl in the Woods” is a dark story in a number of ways: more violent than one could imagine and where children and young people suffer the worst.
Göteborgs-Posten

[There are] many strings that Läckberg weave together and the story has an incredible drive on all fronts.
Kulturnytt i P4

The present-day depiction is told alongside with a shocking depiction of the 1670s, the time of witches. The people could be outrageously evil already then, but it’s not better today. The parallels become visible. … The dissolution is a dramatic and bloody story in this multifaceted and exciting book.
BTJ

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