A woman's disappearance from the Swedish island of Gräsö smoothly leads to an insightful look at families and the secrets they hold dear in The Deathwatch Beetle, the ninth absorbing procedural by Kjell Eriksson (Black Lies, Red Blood) to be translated from the Swedish.
About four years ago, Cecilia Karlsson seemingly abandoned her successful job and left the home of her controlling parents, with whom she lived. It was shortly before her boss, Casper Stefansson, also went missing, presumed murdered. But rumors have cropped up about sightings of Cecilia in Portugal, sparking the interest of former inspector Ann Lindell, who, despite her retirement from the Uppsala police force, remains a detective at heart.
Ann interrupts her vacation on Gräsö with Edvard Risberg, "her great torment but also her great love," for an unofficial investigation. Ann's inquiry ramps up when Cecilia is spotted on the island, attending the funeral of an old friend.
Eriksson delves deeply into Cecilia's motives for vanishing: she was angry at what she saw as betrayal by former friends, tired of being mansplained, especially by her father, who seemed to have her life under constant surveillance. Cecilia would rather hide out in an abandoned, mold-filled cabin where the wood-boring deathwatch beetle is "scratching and gnawing in the wall" than sleep in her parents' comfortable home.
The Deathwatch Beetle strongly examines the vagaries of families, including Ann's relationship with her son, Erik, and her re-connection with Edvard, with whom she plans to live a quiet rural life. But part of Ann admires Cecilia's decision to just leave everything behind. --Oline H. Cogdill, freelance reviewer