The Quarry by Johan Theorin

The Quarry by Johan Theorin

Book 3 in the Oland Quartet

Translated by Transworld Publishers, 2011

Originally published as Blodläge, 2008

Source: I bought the book.

The Quarry is a moody book that delves into new and old residents of the island of Oland near a quarry. Gerlof, who has appeared in the earlier books, moves out of the old folks home and back into his own home. Two people with ties to the island move back into his village, Vendela, who is married to a villain author and publicity hound, and Per, who inherits a small cottage near the quarry.

The back copy makes it sound like the murder investigation is key, and really, it’s only the focus of the second half of the book. Theorin spends a lot of time building the world: isolated island, small population, tormented Vendela whose returned to the island after a miserable childhood, Gerlof whose been freed from the old folks home, and Per Morner, who inherited a rundown cabin near the quarry. There is a mystery from Vendela’s past, there’s sadness in the current times, and there’s a plot about Per’s father’s unsavory and criminal career in pornography. And the setting and the elf-stones are important as well. So many runs in the alvar to the elf-stone.

I’m writing about this book because a) I’m a completist and b) this book stood out positively in my reading year. I think reading older books means I don’t get tired of the same trends in publishing.

Here are links to my reviews of other books in the series:

Echoes from the Dead

The Darkest Room