A Harmless Lie: A Novel - Softcover

Blaedel, Sara

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0593330943 ISBN 13: 9780593330944

Verlag: Penguin Publishing Group, 2022

Inhaltsangabe

USA TODAY "5 Books Not To Miss" • NY POST "Required Reading"

"Sara Blaedel writes novels as twisty as spirals and electric with intelligence.  A HARMLESS LIE is a labyrinth of a mystery, dense and dangerous. Come get lost in it." —A.J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

"Riveting...It’s tailor-made for Karin Slaughter’s readers.” —Library Journal (STARRED REVIEW)

A woman is haunted by a heartwrenching decision she made as a teenager in this darkly atmospheric, deeply emotional thriller from #1 internationally bestselling global superstar Sara Blaedel.

Detective Louise Rick is on a beach in Thailand when the panicked call from her father comes through. Louise′s beloved brother, Mikkel, has attempted suicide. His wife, Trine, left him days earlier, walking out the door one day with no warning and leaving Mikkel devastated.

Louise rushes home to Osted, the small, insular Danish town where she grew up and where Mikkel still lives. But the more Louise learns about Trine—a devoted wife and the mother of two young children—and her state of mind in the days before she left Mikkel, the more Louise begins to wonder whether Trine really meant to leave him. Or whether something much darker may have taken place.

As the local police begin to suspect that Mikkel may have had a hand in Trine’s disappearance, Louise struggles to clear his name but is forced to confront some hard truths: Small towns always hide secrets. The past always comes back to haunt you. And lies are never harmless.

''One of the best I've come across.'' —Michael Connelly

"An intense, atmospheric starting point for those who haven’t yet discovered Denmark’s favorite cop.” —Booklist

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Sara Blaedel is the author of the #1 internationally bestselling series featuring Detective Louise Rick. Her books are published in thirty-eight countries. In 2020 Sara was voted Denmark′s most popular novelist for the fifth time. She is also a recipient of the Golden Laurel, Denmark′s most prestigious literary award.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

One

 

"Louise Rick, Louise Rick!"

 

He pronounced her name "Lois Wreck."

 

The evening sun cast a deep golden glow over the ocean that stretched out before her, deep blue as far as the eye could see. She'd been sitting on the beach all day-and it had been an insanely hot one-and was still sitting there, unable to muster the enthusiasm to move.

 

She ignored him. She felt heavy, slow, and sluggish from the emptiness inside her.

 

"Emergency!" he yelled. "It's about your family. Please come to the phone!"

 

He approached where she was sitting at the water's edge, leaving a trail of footprints behind him in the wet sand. He was wheezing, out of breath. As his words finally sank in, she turned and stared at him in alarm. "What is it? What's going on?"

 

He held his hand out to help her up off the small towel she'd brought along from the hotel room.

 

"Please come," he repeated, his voice shrill now. He turned and began running back across the street to the hotel, darting past the food stands that had been set up between the parked cars. The scooters that zipped down the street in front of the hotel day and night were making their usual racket, but Louise didn't hear them as she followed the man through a small opening in the palm trees.

 

Thailand hadn't been her choice, but the family had made a deal when she'd taken six months' leave from the police department. Louise was between jobs; she'd just left the Missing Persons Department to take on a new role as the head of the Homicide Department. But before beginning her new job, she'd wanted to spend some time traveling, and the family had come to an agreement that each of the four members would be allowed to pick out one place they wanted to see. They'd started in Mexico, which her foster son, Jonas, had chosen. After exploring Mayan ruins, they had journeyed on to South America, Africa, and India. They'd been on the road for four months so far. A small double family: Louise and Jonas, her partner, Eik, and his daughter, Stephanie. All that was in the past, though. Now she was still in Thailand, but alone.

 

In the reception area, the man led Louise to a desk behind the counter, where the telephone was waiting for her. Her own phone was in her room. Shut off.

 

"International call," he said, pointing at the receiver.

 

Louise froze. Lately, she'd been doing everything she could to shut out reality and now this call was about to confront her with it.

 

She sank down on the chair by the table, and the man put the receiver into her hand. She raised it to her ear and spoke in a hush.

 

"Hello."

 

"It's Mikkel." She barely recognized her father's voice. "He tried to commit suicide. He's in the hospital in Roskilde; we're here with him."

 

He paused for a moment and took a deep, trembling breath. "They don't know if he'll survive. I think you should come home."

 

 

Mikkel. Her brother was two and a half years younger than her. They were close, though not as close as they would have been if Louise had stayed in Mid Sealand instead of running off to Copenhagen after her boyfriend Klaus had died. But Louise had been desperate to get away at the time-KlausÕs death had traumatized her so much that she hadnÕt even been able to attend his funeral. Still, she and Mikkel kept in close touch, and she was godmother to both of his children. ÒThe Terrorists,Ó as her mother had called her grandchildren when they were toddlers. Now they were four and six, and not quite as wild. At least Kirstine wasnÕt. Malte was still a handful, but Louise had a soft spot for her nephew, even though a houseful of screaming kids wasnÕt exactly her cup of tea.

 

"I'll come."

 

She had trouble letting go of the receiver once they'd said goodbye. Her Mikkel, who had gone to Klaus's funeral and placed a red rose on his coffin for her. The brother whose world had collapsed when his wife left him with two small children and a house in Osted, with bills he couldn't pay. He'd taken on extra work as a deliveryman and had driven all over the country, in the little time he had left over from his job selling spare parts for Volvo in Roskilde.

 

That had gone on for almost a year, until Trine had finally come back to him. And since then he'd seemed genuinely happy. Louise had often thought that Trine's year away might actually have been good for them because they now seemed closer than ever. There was an air of peace about them, a new sense of comfortableness in their relationship. Louise hadn't cared much for her sister-in-law while she had been away from her family. But that was ancient history now; as long as her brother was happy, so was Louise.

 

She'd always thought she would do anything for her little brother. Climb any mountain, walk any desert, though he would have been irritated to hear her say that. He was a head taller than her and didn't look at all like someone who needed his big sister to take care of him. Still, she'd vowed that she'd always be there for him, no matter what.

 

 

Louise slept for most of the flight home. After Eik, Jonas, and Stephanie had left, a local Thai pharmacist had begun supplying her with sleeping pills. Normally they required a prescription, but she had smooth-talked her way out of needing to see a doctor. The pills had gotten her through the nights alone.

 

Because it was an emergency, she was allowed to leave the small, sleazy tourist hotel without paying for the entire week, which they could have insisted on. There wasn't much good to say about the room, and nothing good at all to say about the bed or the tiny shower stall, which specialized in icy water at a trickle. On the other hand, she had nothing but praise for the man at the reception desk, who turned out to be the owner-he told her so on the way to the airport. He had offered her a lift, and he'd also been the one who'd figured out the fastest way for her to get back to Denmark.

 

Which turned out to be three connecting flights, though with short layovers between them. She spent the trip in a fog of sleep, anxiety, sorrow, and a sense of unreality. Like a bad dream that had somehow invaded real life, making her head spin and her joints feel stiff. On top of that was the fact that she hadn't managed to eat since her father's call, and she hadn't drunk much, either. In fact, she hadn't taken in much at all during the past few weeks after saying goodbye to the others. Her body had come to a standstill; it felt like torture when she tried to force something down. She was off her feed, as her father would have put it, though he was usually referring to birds.

 

Her suitcase was one of the first ones to pop out, thanks to the red tag the hotel owner had convinced the woman at the airport to fasten onto the handle in order to expedite its voyage through the airports. Louise had lost all sense of time. She glanced at her phone and saw that it was nearly seven-thirty in the evening.

 

 

She spotted her father immediately after she passed through customs. He was standing off to the left in the arrivals hall. The second he saw her, he engulfed her in a huge hug, which roadblocked the other passengers trying to drag their suitcases through the gate.

 

He held her so tightly that Louise couldn't breathe enough to even ask about her brother. Or maybe she just didn't dare. More than a day had gone by since his call. The first twenty-four hours were crucial; she knew that from experience. They were the hours that separated life from...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Penguin Publishing Group
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2022
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0593330943
• ISBN 13: 9780593330944
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 304
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Edel Music & Entertainment GmbH; https://www.edel.com; ; Neum�hlen 17; Hamburg; Hamburg; Deutschland