Blog tour: Son by Johana Gustawsson and Thomas Enger

This post is part of a blog tour organised by Random Things Blog Tours. I received a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.

‘Expert on body language and memory, and consultant to the Oslo Police, psychologist Kari Voss sleepwalks through her days, and, by night, continues the devastating search for her young son, who disappeared on his birthday, seven years earlier.

‘Still grieving for her dead husband, and trying to pull together the pieces of her life, she is thrust into a shocking local investigation when two teenage girls are violently murdered in a family summer home in the nearby village of Son.

‘When a friend of the victims is charged with the barbaric killings, it seems the case is closed, but Kari is not convinced. Using her skills and working on instinct, she conducts her own enquiries, leading her to multiple suspects, including people who knew the dead girls well…

‘With the help of Chief Constable Ramona Norum, she discovers that no one – including the victims – are what they seem. And that there is a dark secret at the heart of Son village that could have implications not just for her own son’s disappearance, but Kari’s own life, too…’

In Son, the first book in a new series by Johana Gustawsson and Thomas Enger, we meet “human lie detector” Kari Voss when Oslo Police ask her to assist with their investigation into the horrific murder of two 16-year-old girls, Eva and Hedda.

For Kari, this case is personal, as the victims had been friends of her son Vetle, who disappeared seven years previously, and the police are convinced that another friend of theirs, Jesper, is the perpetrator.

Kari is less sure, however, and ends up pursuing a number of different leads herself. In doing so, she uncovers all manner of local secrets – but do any of them hold the key to the girls’ murder?

I thoroughly enjoyed Son – as I expected I would, really, considering my positive experiences of both authors’ previous work!

I liked how there was so much going on all the time, with new information constantly coming to light about a number of fully fleshed-out characters connected with Eva and Hedda – who, we learn, also had their light and dark sides, and meant different things to different people.

Even the book’s title contains multitudes: while Son is the name of the village where the girls were killed, a key theme of the book (and characteristic of many of the suspects) is that of young men who have difficult relationships with their parents. On top of that, of course, is Kari’s grief over her own son, who’s been missing for seven years.

Kari is multi-layered and sympathetic. Her reputation as an expert in her field gives her an air of confidence and self-assurance, but at the same time, she’s mentally and emotionally fragile as a result of Vetle’s unsolved disappearance. She’s clearly respected and well-liked by the other characters: she socialises with Chief Constable Ramona Norum (and her entertaining blended family!) outside of work, and Hedda’s father, William, turns to Kari in his hour of need.

I found Kari’s expertise absolutely fascinating, especially with regard to false memories. I was agog as she put it to use on this case, and look forward to learning further interesting things about how our minds work in future instalments.

Son whetted my appetite for the next book in other ways too: after the killer is revealed (additional kudos to the writers for keeping me guessing right up to the last moment!), there are a couple more surprises that made me gasp and want to see how Kari’s story develops.

Son is sophisticated, fascinating, and full of intrigue.