Nordic Watchlist reviews Hidden in Memories by Viveca Sten
The concept of revenge and retribution based on ‘the sins of the father’ has long been a favourite vehicle for authors, and in Hidden in Memories, Viveca Sten’s third book in the Åre Murders series, paternal misdemeanours from decades past come back to haunt the present with a vengeance.
The Copperhill Mountain Lodge in Åre seems the perfect place for an Easter getaway. Sweden’s most popular ski resort sees residents of Stockholm flocking to enjoy the mountains in luxurious surroundings. With arrivals delayed by a blizzard, stress levels are already high. For businesswoman and regular guest Charlotte Wretlind, however, tensions are even higher than normal, as she plans her latest business venture – a venture that has earned her a few enemies along the way. After an explosive argument with the hotel receptionist, Charlotte is found the following morning brutally murdered in her suite, the frenzy of stab wounds suggesting the murderer harboured deep hatred for the victim.
For Detective Inspectors Hanna Ahlander and Daniel Lindskog, there are numerous lines of enquiry. The victim was certainly not short of enemies: the local community protesting against her proposed venture, the receptionist she publicly threatened to have fired, the local councillor she was attempting to blackmail. Ruthless in her dealings, Charlotte provided no shortage of motives, but for the detectives there is no easy answer as to which trail to follow.
When a second murder occurs in the hotel, it becomes clear the story is more complex than either police officer first realised, and when the victim’s grieving son vanishes the pair recognise they are dealing with a far deeper motive than they initially suspected.
In Sten’s gripping page-turner – as is almost obligatory in Nordic Noir – she also delves deeper into the flaws and troubled pasts of her investigators. Hanna continues to battle with her unrequited love for her police partner Daniel, a chasm of loneliness she attempts to fill through an adopted stray cat. Daniel faces challenges of his own: a drifting marriage and childhood trauma that a therapist is slowly helping him confront.
Relationship troubles are a theme that runs throughout, with fellow officers also struggling to balance professional duty with romantic entanglements and past misdemeanours. The victim’s family is inexplicably linked to an event that took place at the same hotel fifty years earlier. With every twist, Hidden in Memories proves that Nordic Noir can be as emotionally rich as it is suspenseful.
As the title suggests, a key thread is the reliability of our perception of past events – are our memories rooted in fact or tainted by preconception and the passage of time? Those memories prove pivotal, Hanna rushing to balance fact and fiction to uncover the truth before a third victim is claimed.
Sten paints this complex web of past, present, fact and speculation with clarity. In a world where subplots interject and overlap, she maintains a clear narrative path. She is unafraid to confront difficult subjects – childhood trauma, violence and emotional abandonment are treated with unflinching honesty. There may not always be a happy ending, and many threads remain unresolved, but this lends the novel a sense of earthy reality.
The Åre Murders series has been adapted for the screen, and that is no surprise. There is a filmic fluidity to Sten’s storytelling, with an adept eye for the visual. While reading, you can almost sense the episodic structure. That is not to say Hidden in Memories does not work in book form – it certainly does. Despite being book three, it stands comfortably alone. Sten provides just enough context for a first-time reader to enter the Åre landscape, while also offering a strong hook to explore the earlier books.
Hidden in Memories is a masterful blend of psychological depth and suspenseful storytelling. Sten skilfully weaves together the shadows of the past with the complexities of the present, crafting a narrative that is both emotionally resonant and thrilling. The novel reminds us that the past is never as far away as we think.
Hidden in Memories by Viveca Sten, translated by Marlaine Delargy, is published by Amazon Crossing.
