Review: “The Lost Woman (Louise Rick, #6)” by Sara Blaedel

“The Lost Woman (Louise Rick, #6)” by Sara Blaedel

304 pages, Hatchette

Published Feb. 7, 2017 (first published Nov. 7, 2014, in Denmark)

ISBN: 1455541079

Inspector Louise Rick, head of the elite Special Search Agency in Denmark’s National Police Department, finds herself entangled in a case that becomes rather personal in “The Lost Woman.” Her colleague and boyfriend, Eik, goes AWOL and turns up in jail in England after butting into the investigation of a shooting death. The victim is Sofie Parker, an old girlfriend who went missing years ago.
The dead woman has a mysterious bank account with large sums of money deposited, and it holds the key to why more people are dying.

The case inspires Louise’s journalist friend, Camilla, to launch into an investigative project about Sofie’s strange disappearance, but it morphs into a piece on what Sofie was up to all those years after she’d gone missing.

From there, the novel turns into a morality tale about the pros and cons of assisted suicide – a practice that, while still taboo, is far more acceptable in Europe than in my home country (the U.S.).

Perhaps I needed to read some of the earlier Louise Rick novels first, but I don’t know if that would have helped me enjoy this book more. I initially gave this book 3.5 stars but, after pondering it for a few days, I’m giving it 2. I just felt like something was missing that I couldn’t quite put my finger on, but at the same time, there was just way too much happening. A lot of it explains Eik’s erratic behavior, and why Sofie disappeared for years, only to be shot in the head while standing at her kitchen sink. And yes, the answers to these questions weren’t quite what I’d expected. But at some point, I just finished the book because I was almost done with it.

It just seems to me that Blaedel was trying to accomplish too many purposes in writing this book. I’ve decided it is entirely possible to incorporate enough dirty laundry and intrigue into a story to bury the most important messages. And “The Lost Woman” is a good example.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

2 stars

 

About the author

Sara Blaedel is the author of the #1 international bestselling series featuring Detective Louise Rick. Her books are published in thirty-three countries. She lives in Copenhagen, and was voted Denmark’s most popular novelist for the fourth time in 2014. She is also a recipient of the Golden Laurel, Denmark’s most prestigious literary award.

Bio and photo courtesy of author’s Goodreads profile