The Quarry by Johan Theorin

The more books I read by Nordic crime/mystery authors, the more I admire them. After Stieg Larsson and Jo Nesbo, there is Johan Theorin, an award winning Swedish crime fiction writer with a new riveting book, The Quarry. It is Theorin’s third novel, and the third instalment of his highly praised Quartet series.





Per Morner who lives on the island of Oland plans to visit a nearby quarry with his children. According to local legends, the quarry once had been a scene of a battle that had been fought between mystical creatures. However, Per receives a call from his father Jerry who is in peril danger. Per rushes there to save him, to find out that his studio in a desolated forest was lit, and Jerry himself was stabbed. Per saves him, but two other people burn in the house. Jerry, who had been a producer of a porn magazine back in his days, suspects that a former co-worker of his was the perpetrator, and he still dreads him; however, the co-worker is presumably one of the burnt corpses. Within a few days Jerry dies: a car hits him. Per starts searching for reasons, and his investigations lead to the quarry…
In the meanwhile, a young woman Vendela who has grown up on the island returns with her domineering and arrogant husband Max. She still remembers the legends about the strange creatures in the quarry, and she believes that they exist indeed. However, the quarry is a malignant place…
Johan Theorin’s debut novel Echoes from the Dead was the Best First Mystery Novel according to the Swedish Crime Writer’s Academy; the following book The Darkest Room became Best Swedish Crime Novel of 2008 and earned a Glass Key Award and a Glass Key Award for Theorin. The Darkest Room has also won 2010 Crime Writer Association International Crime Novel prize.


Product Description
As the last snow melts on the Swedish island of Öland, Per Morner is preparing for his children’s Easter visit. But his plans are disrupted when he receives a phone call from his estranged father, Jerry, begging for help.
Per finds Jerry close to death in his blazing woodland studio. He’s been stabbed, and two dead bodies are later discovered in the burnt-out building.
The only suspect, Jerry’s work partner, is confirmed as one of the dead. But why does Jerry insist his colleague is still alive? And why does he think he’s still a threat to his life?
When Jerry dies in hospital a few days later, Per becomes determined to find out what really happened. But the closer he gets to the truth, the more danger he finds himself in.
And nowhere is more dangerous than the nearby quarry...