Slowly We Die

Jana Berzelius has a lot on her plate in Swedish author Schepp’s hard-hitting third thriller featuring the Norrköping public prosecutor (after 2017’s Marked for Revenge). First, Jana’s adoptive mother dies of a sudden heart attack. Next, coworker Per Åström, “the only social company she allowed herself,” steps up his efforts to get close to the intensely private Jana. Meanwhile, her archnemesis, criminal suspect Danilo Peña, escapes from the private hospital room where he’s been under guard. Finally, a busy workload gets even more demanding when a serial killer begins torturing and dismembering seemingly random victims with a surgical scalpel. Schepp ably juggles a sizable cast of complex supporting characters as she drops subtle clues about the murders and to her enigmatic lead’s past; an open ending suggests that readers haven’t seen the last of Jana. Fans of Scandinavian noir will be well satisfied. [em]Agent: Lena Stjernström, Grand Agency (Sweden). (June) [/em]