Son by Johana Gustawsson & Thomas Enger #Son @JoGustawsson @EngerThomas @OrendaBooks #NordicNoir BLOG TOUR

 

Everyone here is lying…

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…
 
For fans of Harlan Coben, Lars Kepler, Jo Nesbo and Jorn Lier Horst … and The Mentalist

Son by Johana Gustawsson and Thomas Enger is published in hardback by Orenda Books on 27 March 2025. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this Blog Tour 

Individually, Johana Gustawsson and Thomas Enger are two of the best crime fiction authors currently writing. When I heard that they were writing a book together, I was intrigued. I wondered how two authors with their own original styles could weave together a story that was both realistic and enjoyable to read. As I closed the book after that totally unexpected end paragraph, I came to the conclusion that here we have two outstanding writers and when brought together to write they truly are magnificent. 

We are introduced to Kari Voss. Kari is a body language and memory expert and works closely with the Oslo police force. She also has some weighty life baggage of her own. Seven years ago her young son, Vetle, disappeared, it was his birthday and he's not been seen since. Kari also grieves for her dead husband. 

Kari is contacted to help with the investigation into a brutal double murder. Two teenage girls are found in a summer house with their throats slit. This case opens up so many wounds for Kari, the victims and the person arrested for the murder were all friends of her son Vetle. Kari knows them and their families well and despite her professionalism on the case, she becomes really emotionally involved. It is not long before many dark long-held secrets are exposed in this small town, sending shockwaves through the community and raising questions about many things, and many people. 

Son is seamlessly written, it is woven together expertly with characters who are perfectly created in a setting that adds so much to the tension and depth of the murder mystery. Every single character fits perfectly into the narrative, some of them are incredibly flawed, some of them are totally unreliable, but each one of them fits perfectly into the plot line.  

This really is a writing match made in heaven. Both of these authors are incredibly talented in their own right, but bring them together and the results are explosive. This is almost pitch perfect crime fiction, written with heart, multi layered and emotionally challenging. A fabulous beginning to a new series. 

Known as the Queen of French Noir, Johana Gustawsson is one of France's most highly
regarded, award-winning crime writers, recipient of the prestigious Cultura Ligue de l`Imaginaire Award for her gothic mystery Yule Island. 

Number-one bestselling books include Block 46, Keeper, Blood Song and her historical thriller, The Bleeding. 

Johana lives in Sweden with her family. 

A former journalist, Thomas Enger is the number-one bestselling author of the Henning Juul series and, with co-author Jørn Lier Horst, the international bestselling Blix & Ramm series, and one of the biggest proponents of the Nordic Noir genre. 

He lives in Oslo. 

Rights to Johana and Thomas’ books have been sold to a combined fifty countries and, for the first time, two crime writers, from two different countries, writing in two different languages, have joined forces to create an original series together.