Another Time, Another Life: The Story of a Crime

The real-life 1975 siege of the West German embassy in Stockholm by six young terrorists drives Persson’s ambitious second installment in his crime trilogy focused on Swedish politics (after 2010’s Between Summer’s Longing and Winter’s End). In 1989, inspector Anna Holt and assistant detective Bo Jarnebring investigate a Swedish civil servant’s murder, but their corrupt boss thwarts their efforts. In 2000, Lars Johansson, newly appointed to the Swedish Security Police (aka SePo), reopens both cases and uncovers a link. The author’s straightforward journalistic approach makes the historical events seem remote and unapproachable, akin to a documentary-style police procedural. But the look at the fictional individual detectives and their fates through the years enriches the story. Good cops continue to be honest; some bad cops get their comeuppance, while other dishonest cops are promoted. In the end, politics trumps justice. Agent: Niclas Salomonsson, Salomonsson Agency. (Mar.)