★ 01/31/2022
Eleanor, the heroine of this engrossing, character-rich psychological thriller from Swedish author Sten (The Lost Village), has prosopagnosia, or face blindness, which prevents her from recognizing the person she witnesses murder her grandmother, Vivianne. Months later, still undergoing therapy for trauma caused by the experience, Eleanor learns she has inherited Solhöga, her grandmother’s manor house located in isolated Swedish woodlands, and she—along with her long-standing boyfriend, Sebastian; a hostile aunt, Veronika; and the estate’s lawyer, Rickard—gather at Solhöga to sort out the details. Almost immediately, increasingly ominous incidents begin to occur: the groundskeeper who was supposed to meet them is missing, Eleanor sees a mysterious figure lurking on the grounds after dark, and unexplained accidents take place. It soon becomes clear that what’s going on is tied to Vivianne’s hidden past. Suspense builds steadily as a body is discovered, Rickard is seriously assaulted, and a winter storm traps the party with no hope of getting away. The powerful conclusion is satisfying for both Eleanor and the reader. Sten is on a roll. Agent: Anna Frankl, Nordin Agency (Sweden). (Mar.)
10/01/2021
Here's more from the author of the nerve-scraping debut The Lost Village, a LibraryReads pick that sold to 17 countries. Eleanor walks in on her grandmother's murder but won't be able to identify who did it; she suffers from prosopagnosia, the inability to recognize faces. Obviously, she's worried about what she doesn't know —the assailant could be sitting right next to her—and her fears intensify when she inherits a house from her grandmother. It's chilly, remote, and the place her grandfather died unexpectedly. With a 150,000-copy first printing.
2021-12-24
After writing about an investigation into a town that was mysteriously depopulated 60 years ago (The Lost Village, 2021), Swedish author Sten returns for another surgical excavation of the past, this time of her troubled heroine’s family.
Victoria Eleanor Fälth has always had a complicated relationship with the grandmother who raised her after her mother died, but none of that friction has prepared her to find Vivianne Fälth dying and the person who cut her throat escaping. Since Eleanor, as everyone but Vivianne calls her, has prosopagnosia, a condition that makes her unable to recognize faces, she’s the world’s worst eyewitness, and the police quickly abandon the possibility of getting any useful information out of her. Meantime, her grandmother’s hold over her life persists with the news that she’s left Eleanor Solhöga, a country estate Eleanor never knew she’d owned. Invited to inspect the place, Eleanor brings her live-in partner, Sebastian, and probate lawyer Rickard Snäll to help with its inventory. Soon after they arrive, they’re unexpectedly joined by Eleanor’s dislikable aunt, Veronika, but not by Mats Bengtsson, the groundskeeper, who’s gone mysteriously missing. Cut off from the rest of the world by the isolated location and an obligatory blizzard, the visitors lose their cellphone service, then their access to the road back to the outside world, then the electricity that’s kept them warm. All the while, Eleanor, who’s found a diary kept half a century earlier by Vivianne’s Polish-born servant, Anushka, tries to figure out what buried secrets could have led to her grandmother’s murder. The pace, at first maddeningly deliberate, gradually accelerates, unleashing a whirlwind of revelations that will leave some readers still shaking their heads in bewilderment after the fade-out.
Deep-laid, tightly wound, and very, very cold.
Praise for Camilla Sten
"Come for the mounting horror and scares, but stay for a devastating examination of the nature of family secrets." - New York Times book review
“THE LOST VILLAGE draws you in with its spooky premise—the disappearance of an entire town—but great atmospherics and unexpected twists keep you turning the pages. For fans of haunted reality TV shows, Scandinavian thrillers, and all things relentlessly creepy.” — Alma Katsu, author of The Deep and The Hunger
"Very atmospheric and engaging mystery from a new and exciting voice in Scandinavian crime. The reader is drawn into a unique setting from page one and it is impossible to stop reading." - Ragnar Jonasson, author of The Island
"An enthralling and claustrophobic read. Camilla Sten has written a lurid thriller that will send shivers down your spine.” – M.T. Edvardsson, author of A Nearly Normal Family
"This gripping psychological thriller is sure to please fans of Shirley Jackson and cinema verité–styled horror." - Publishers Weekly
"Very hard to put down...delivers maximum dread with remarkable restraint, and as the situation goes from bad to worse to terrifying, readers will revel in the chills." - Booklist
"Deliciously creepy and profoundly addictive." - The Free Lance Star
"Legitimately scary." - Air Mail
"The suspense in this book is off the charts." - Manhattan Book Review
"[A] scary, highly entertaining debut...that pays homage to Shirley Jackson." - South Florida Sun Sentinel
"Sten’s character-driven, psychologically immersive puzzle will keep readers guessing until the end." - First Clue
"Deep-laid and tightly wound." —Kirkus Reviews
"Engrossing, character-rich, powerful. Sten is on a roll." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Sten relentlessly builds the tension and suspense...adding a deep layer of intensely sinister fear and mortal danger with every turn of the page. A great choice for fans of terrifying psychological suspense driven by family secrets, as seen in titles by Sarah Pinborough and Jennifer McMahon." - Booklist
"Creepy and disturbing...an unforgettable atmospheric and suspenseful experience." - The BiblioSanctum
"Atmospheric and chilling, The Resting Place is a masterful and unexpected bit of literary legerdemain." - New York Journal of Books
"Atmospheric and serpentine...with vigor, passion and originality, The Resting Place represents the heights to which crime fiction can rise." - Fredericksburg Free Lance Star
06/01/2022
When Eleanor's grandmother, Vivianne, was murdered, Eleanor saw the killer. Unfortunately, because of her prosopagnosia—a cognitive disorder of face perception—Eleanor is unable to identify the person and she becomes anxious and paranoid. When she learns that Vivianne left her a country estate, Eleanor heads out there with her boyfriend, Sebastian; her aunt Veronika; and the lawyer handling the estate. The trip seems doomed from the beginning. The groundskeeper is nowhere to be found and a blizzard, which the remote mansion's rickety electrical system is unable to withstand, is rapidly approaching. When Eleanor finds a diary written by a maid who worked in the house when Vivianne was first married, she learns the dark family secrets her grandmother kept for a lifetime. And when more bodies turn up, Eleanor realizes that someone is willing to kill to keep Vivianne's secrets hidden. Sten's (The Lost Village) latest is fast-paced and suspenseful, enhanced by Angela Dawe's skillful narration. VERDICT For fans of the author and Scandinavian thrillers.—Stephanie Klose
