The Viper — Hakan Ostlundh

Published in nine countries worldwide, Håkan Ostlundh is well on his way to becoming one of the new superstars of Scandinavian crime fiction. In this gripping and haunting novel, Arvid, a ruthless business consultant for a major international company, returns home to Sweden after a lengthy assignment in Tokyo. Four days after his return, the maid discovers two dead bodies on the living room floor -- a man and a woman. At first, police detective Fredrik Broman assumes the two bodies to be Arvid and his wife, but the male body is badly disfigured and could be anyone. Soon, Fredrik is knee-deep in case that is much more complex than he could ever have imagined.

Set on the island of Gotland, The Viper is a fabulous crime novel that explores the terrors lurking beneath small town life, where escaping one's past is impossible.