Hero journalist
Popular literary feminine crimebusters run the gamut of policewomen, private eyes, doctors and lawyers. Rarely reporters. Surprising, because women journalists are at the forefront of going after evil-doors. In all too many countries their intrepid pursuit costs them their lives.
On the whole, crime thriller novelists give them a wide berth. Certainly the authorities look at them with a jaundiced eye, complaining that their sensational stories obstruct rather than assist their investigations. Unfair, as the police haven’t exclusive rights to serve and protect the public.
Swedish author Liza Marklund has made her literary creation Annika Bentzon, a journalist on Stockholm’s Evening Post, the heroine of The Final Word. Writing about danger is her forte, and her columns have had her byline for 15 years. Her private life has been as exciting as her public one.
When an adolescent, she killed a man who’d just murdered her friend. The judge sentenced her to two years’ probation. Gossip about her never ceased. She’s divorced and her ex, in government service, has mixed feelings wishing her back and wanting her dead. Her sister Brigitta has vanished.
Meanwhile, Annika is on a story attracting attention throughout Sweden. There’s reason to believe that the man who claims to be a serial killer and confessed to strangling her along with five other women is lying or deluded. Then who did it? She has her suspicions.
Psychologically, Annika is a mess. She and her mother despise each other; she and her sister are estranged. Having blackout spells, Annika has sessions with a psychologist. Not the least of her problems is that the paper is folding. The Age of Gutenberg is at an end. The future is digital.
With the baggage Marklund has saddled her with, it’s a wonder Annika hasn’t thrown up her hands. But she manages to juggle her troubles and, one by one, finds the correct solutions. Not always happy ones, but such is life. Lots of names of neighbourhoods, meaningless to non-Swedes.
Sweden and Norway appear to be competing as to who pens the better Scandinavian novels. This reviewer would say it’s a close race.