The Lost Boy (Patrick Hedstrom and Erica Falck, Book 7) Read online

  Many people helped me with the research and fact-checking that were an essential part of this book. I would like to thank them all, especially Anders Torevi, Karl-Allen Nordblom, Christine Fredriksen, Anna Jeffords, and Maria Farm. Niklas Bernstone made an important contribution by travelling among the islands to take the perfect photograph of a lighthouse for the jacket of the Swedish edition.

  And my thanks to all the readers of my blog. What a source of positive energy you are!

  Thanks to my friends, who put up with the intense writing periods when I more or less disappear from the face of the earth. Incredibly enough, you’re still there when I emerge, which is more than I deserve since months may go by without a word from me. And my thanks to Denise Rudberg, who always has time to listen and offer encouragement – both when it comes to the travails of writing and regarding everything else in life, which we discuss in our almost daily phone conversations.

  My books and everything that happens in my life as an author would mean nothing without my children: Wille, Meja, and Charlie. And my wonderful Martin. You’re not only my love but also my best friend. Thank you all for being there for me.

  Camilla Läckberg

  Enskede, 29 June 2009

  www.camillalackberg.com

  About the Author

  Camilla Lackberg is a worldwide bestseller renowned for her brilliant contemporary psychological thrillers. Her novels have sold to 55 countries with translations into 37 languages. She has sold over 10 million copies to date and was Europe’s ninth bestselling author last year.

  www.camillalackberg.com

  THE ERICA FALCK

  AND

  PATRIK HEDSTRÖM

  NOVELS

  Set in the idyllic coastal fishing village of Fjällbacka, Camilla’s series of novels features local detective Patrik Hedström and his wife, crime writer Erica Falck.

  Returning to her hometown, writer Erica Falck finds a community on the brink of tragedy. A woman’s frozen body has been found in an ice cold bath with her wrists slashed. It seems that her childhood friend, Alex, has taken her own life.

  As Erica writes a memoir dedicated to Alex, she soon becomes obsessed with the case. Meanwhile, local detective Patrik Hedström is harbouring his own suspicions. But it is only when they start working together that the truth begins to emerge about a small town with a deeply disturbing past.

  In the fishing community of Fjällbacka, life is remote, peaceful – and for some, tragically short. Twenty years ago, two young holidaymakers disappeared. Now their remains have been discovered, along with those of a fresh victim.

  Detective Patrik Hedström, expecting a baby with his girlfriend Erica, can only imagine what it is like to lose a child. When a second young girl goes missing, he turns his attention to the Hults, a feuding clan of misfits, religious fanatics and criminals. The suspect list is long but time is short – which of this family’s dark secrets will provide the vital clue?

  The remote resort of Fjällbacka has seen its share of tragedy, though perhaps none worse than that of the little girl found in a fisherman’s net. But the post-mortem reveals that this is no accidental drowning …

  Patrik Hedström has just become a father. It is his grim task to discover who could be behind the murder of a child both he and Erica knew well. But this is no ordinary murder, and what he discovers will reach into the dark heart of the town’s past, and tear aside its idyllic façade, perhaps forever.

  (Previously entitled The Gallows Bird)

  A reality TV show is being shot in the town, marking the end of a quiet winter for detective Patrik Hedström and his colleagues. As cameras shadow the stars’ every move, relations with the locals are strained to breaking point. When a drunken party ends with a particularly unpopular contestant’s murder, the cast and crew are obvious suspects. Could there be a killer in their midst?

  As the country tunes in to a real-life murder mystery, under the intense glare of the media spotlight, Patrik faces his toughest investigation yet …

  Erica Falck is shocked to discover a Nazi medal among her late mother’s possessions. Haunted by a childhood of neglect, she resolves to dig deep into her family’s past and finally uncover the reasons why.

  Her enquiries lead her to one of her mother’s friends, a retired history teacher. But her questions are met with bizarre and evasive answers. Two days later he is found brutally murdered. Detective Patrik Hedström, Erica’s husband, is on paternity leave but soon becomes embroiled in the murder investigation. Who would kill so ruthlessly to bury secrets so old? The dark past is coming to light, and no one will escape the truth …

  Christian Thydell should be on top of the world; with author Erica Falck’s help, his debut novel The Mermaidhas finally been published. But telling his story comes at a price. And it won’t just be Christian who has to pay it.

  When Christian’s friend Magnus Kjellner is found frozen beneath the ice, Detective Patrick Hedström is forced to change a missing person case to homicide. But with no motive and no witnesses, only one thing is clear. Someone has it in for Christian and his friends, and they won’t hesitate to turn their threats into a reality. But what is the secret they would rather die to protect then live to see revealed?

  LOOK OUT FOR

  THE NEXT NOVEL,

  COMING SPRING 2014.

  By the same author

  The Ice Princess

  The Preacher

  The Stonecutter

  The Stranger (previously titled The Gallows Bird)

  The Hidden Child

  The Drowning

  Copyright

  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

  HarperCollinsPublishers

  An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

  77–85 Fulham Palace Road

  London W6 8JB

  www.harpercollins.co.uk

  Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2013

  Copyright © Camilla Lackberg 2009

  Published by agreement with Nordin Agency, Sweden

  Translation copyright © Tiina Nunnally 2013

  Jacket layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers 2012; Jacket photographs © Clayton Bastiani/Trevillion Images (boy, beach and sea); Chad Ehlers/Getty Images (lighthouse and rocks); Shutterstock.com (sky).

  First published in Swedish as Fyrvaktaren

  Camilla Lackberg asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

  A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

  Source ISBN: 9780007473212

  Ebook Edition © 2013 ISBN: 9780007419562

  Version 1

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