More Bitter than Death

In Swedish sisters Grebe and Träff’s emotionally devastating second Siri Bergman novel (after 2012’s Some Kind of Peace), Bergman, a psychologist who works in Stockholm, decides to host a support group for abused woman. One of the participants, Kattis, describes her abusive relationship with Henrik, who soon leaves Kattis for another woman, Susanne Olsson. When Olsson is brutally murdered, Kattis suspects Henrik. Although Bergman has reservations, she begins to suspect Henrik, too—yet she’s forced to reappraise the situation when Malin, another woman from the group, admits she knew the victim and would have had reason enough to kill Olsson. As Bergman searches for the truth, she must also deal with her own emotional issues. An overemphasis on the struggles of the women in the support group tends to slow the pacing of this otherwise solid mystery. Agent: Anna Frankl and Joakim Hansson, the Nordin Agency (Sweden). (June)