Blood Song (3) (Roy & Castells Series)

The action swings from London to Sweden, and then back into the past, to Franco’s Spain, as Roy & Castells hunt a monstrous killer … in the latest instalment of Johana Gustawsson’s award-winning series

‘A satisfying, full-fat mystery’ The Times

‘Assured telling of a complex story’ Sunday Times Crime Club

‘Gustawsson’s writing is so vivid, it’s electrifying. Utterly compelling’ Peter James

Spain, 1938: The country is wracked by civil war, and as Valencia falls to Franco’s brutal dictatorship, Republican Therese witnesses the murders of her family. Captured and sent to the notorious Las Ventas women’s prison, Therese gives birth to a daughter who is forcibly taken from her.

Falkenberg, Sweden, 2016: A wealthy family is found savagely murdered in their luxurious home. Discovering that her parents have been slaughtered, Aliénor Lindbergh, a new recruit to the UK’s Scotland Yard, rushes back to Sweden and finds her hometown rocked by the massacre.

Profiler Emily Roy joins forces with Aliénor and soon finds herself on the trail of a monstrous and prolific killer. Little does she realise that this killer is about to change the life of her colleague, true-crime writer Alexis Castells. Joining forces once again, Roy and Castells’ investigation takes them from the Swedish fertility clinics of the present day back to the terror of Franco’s rule, and the horrifying events that took place in Spanish orphanages under its rule.

Terrifying, vivid and recounted at breakneck speed, Blood Song is not only a riveting thriller and an examination of corruption in the fertility industry, but a shocking reminder of the atrocities of Spain’s dictatorship, in the latest, stunning instalment in the award-winning Roy & Castells series.

‘I don’t think there’s a crime writer who writes with such intelligence, darkness and deep sadness as Johana Gustawsson. This was extraordinary’ Louise Beech

‘Blood Song caught and has held onto my thoughts, it is clever, provocative, and a seriously good read’ LoveReading

‘A fascinating and engrossing read, but also one that I found intensely harrowing, deeply intimate and which made me cry’ Live & Deadly

‘Gustawsson has astounded me with her fabulous ability to intertwine crimes of the past with crimes of the present, seamlessly weaving multiple threads together to create a well-plotted, intelligent thriller’ Off-the-Shelf Books

‘Blood Song was a gorgeous if traumatic read and Johana Gustawsson knows how to weave a web of emotion around the reader whilst also producing a proper page turner that is utterly gripping from first page to last’ Liz Loves Books

‘Blood Song is a dark, harrowing and shocking novel but also one that you just can’t look away from. The writing is so good, as is the brilliant translation by David Warriner’ Rather Too Fond of Books

‘A brilliant, unrelenting thriller that will sink its hooks into you and not let go!’ Passages to the Past

‘Right from the beginning it packs an emotional punch and then some. Johana Gustawsson drew me into the pages and created an emotional tension that had me in its clutches throughout’ Chapter in my Life

‘As per usual Gustawsson proves what an incredibly gifted writer, storyteller and meticulous plotter she is, which is brought to the table in all its original glory by the translator. Kudos to Gustawsson for the incredible read’ Cheryl MM’s Book Blog

‘Blood Song was uncompromising and unflinching but, at its heart the storytelling was captivating, compelling and superb. You didn’t want to step away from the pages, there was always that need to read just a little bit more before Gustawsson revealed all, a truth that shocked, and an ending you didn’t see coming’ My Bookish Blogspot