Unlucky second

A drowned man risen from the dead? In the North? What else did you expect? Retired driver Albin Runge, who has arrived at Kymlinge police station on an extremely serious matter, is a gloomy character at first glance. Five years ago, in a moment of misfortune, he swerved his bus into a ravine to avoid a deer, killing 18 participants of a school trip. Since then, he has been plagued by the guilt of a man who cannot be prosecuted, yet has been condemned: day in, day out, he is gnawed by the guilt of surviving while the innocent are dead. And this wretched state of mind is now being exploited by a blackmailer signed Nemesis. Could one of the dead students' parents be seeking revenge? Although Inspector Barbarotti has nothing to go on besides anonymous letters, he and his new partner – colleague Eva Backman – try to unravel the case before the anniversary of the tragedy, when Nemesis intends to strike, before… Before a panicked Runge and his wife hastily change their plans, sail from Sweden and, according to witnesses, fall overboard from a ferry. He is declared missing and the case becomes a cold one. But not for the bulldog Barbarotti. When a holiday takes him and Eva to the Baltic island of Gotland a few years later, it turns out that a local cyclist bears a striking resemblance to the drowned Albin… The broad-ranging sixth case of the Swedish police workhorse ponders the majesty of conscience and the role of chance. Barbarotti sees it as Providence. And non-believers might see it as a figurative cleaner walking in people's footsteps, sweeping away speculation and restoring order. "Few writers possess such a penetrating way of getting under people's skin." – The New York Times "The author is not a typical detective writer, and in the Barbarotti series this is clearly confirmed far beyond Swedish standards. His erudite novels aim to touch the innermost emotions and ask: What is moral? And who has the right to judge?" – Strefa Kryminału (Poland) "When there are three plot lines at play, Nesser's results tend to be good, very good, brilliant. And when the author treats us to the desired twists before the end, the result is another psychological thriller revealing the submerged caves of terror we carry within us." – Sydsvenskan "To me, [this is Nesser's] 'An Entirely Different Story 2' and just as perfect a deception of the reader. I absolutely recommend it to fans of the Barbarotti–Backman duo." – from reader reviews on databazeknih.cz "He thought that during his journey through life, he had occasionally entered clearings where time seemed to stand still, where past and future were equally blurred and shrouded in fog. They seemed to him to be made for reflection, but at the same time they evoked claustrophobic feelings and a bit of fear. He knew them from before: he knew they returned repeatedly, and that if he did not stop them, they could grow stronger inside him and turn into lethargy. Besides, he had the impression that Eva in the passenger seat was also in such a clearing. In a waiting room where you forget what you are actually waiting for. (...) In any case, it seemed to him that whoever holds all the strings had decided to pull a few of them. If there is a choreography, there must be a choreographer – and you can feel this very strongly at times. Gunnar Barbarotti did not have this exact feeling for the first time, definitely not. When the individual grains lie far apart, a blind hen needs an ally." – extract from the text