Blood Song

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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, Alienor 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 Alienor 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 installment in the award-winning Roy & Castells series.

Reviews

"Gustawsson is back after terrifying us with her internationally acclaimed bestseller, Block 46, this time with an equally terrifying story of past and present. . . . Gustawsson captures Victorian London with all its seediness, stench and crime as graphically as Dickens did its poverty and despair. The juxtaposition of the past and present are seamlessly accomplished, in mesmerising, short, incisive chapters. Roy and Castells are terrific original characters, whose longevity is guaranteed, but watch out for new kid on the block, Swedish Detective Karla Hansen. Keeper is a relentless heart-stopping masterpiece, filled with nightmarish situations that will keep you awake long into the dark nights of winter." --New York Journal of Books on Keeper "A terrifying tale." -- Mystery Scene "This one's bound to keep you glued to the page till the last line!"--CrimeReads

Author Bio

Born in Marseille, France, and with a degree in Political Science, Johana Gustawsson has worked as a journalist for the French and Spanish press and television. Her critically acclaimed Roy & Castells series, including Block 46, Keeper and Blood Song, has won the Plume d'Argent, Balai de la decouverte, Balai d'Or and Prix Marseillais du Polar awards. Johana lives in London with her Swedish husband and their three sons.