Missing

"Missing" grabs the reader from the first page, and doesn't let go until the gruesome denouement. This fabulous thriller won the Best Nordic Crime Novel in 2000 (previous winners include Peter Hoeg's Miss Smilla's and Henning Mankell's "Faceless Killers") and has enjoyed massive success all over Europe. Sibylla is on the run from the authorities and convention. Choosing to live of-no-fixed abode for many years, she tricks affluent businessmen into paying for dinner then putting her up in expensive hotel rooms. When one of them is found mutilated, Sibylla - with her unconventional life style and the fact that she was spotted fleeing the scene of the crime - leads her to become 'Sweden's Most Wanted' as a serial killer. But more than being an excellent crime novel, the book explores the terrifying isolation of a woman who has rejected the values of her background and intimacy of her family. Alvtegen uses stunningly direct prose in a plot of tremendous pace and verve.