The Swedish Girl

Detective Superintendent Lorimer is back in his old haunts at Stewart Street.  He had been called late one night to a murder scene by DS Alistair Wilson, whose daughter had called him to tell him that her flat mate was dead.  The victim, Eva Magnusson, was the daughter of a Swedish millionaire.  Lorimer appoints DI Jo Grant to head up the investigation.

Kirsty Wilson had been working when the murder occurred, while her flat mates had gone to a party.  The three boys who were flatmates all were in a state of shock at Eva's killing.  What kind of witness statements would they be able to provide to DI Grant?  Grant is sure that she has her man when DNA evidence shows that room mate Colin Young had had sex with Eva prior to her being killed.  He must have killed her in a fit of anger.

Kirsty is sure that Colin is not the killer.  She approaches Lorimer to see if he can do anything.  He tells her that he is not the senior investigator; it is out of his hands.  Later he does wonder if they might have gotten it wrong.  With Lorimer's and Eva's father's encouragement, Kirsty does her own investigating, and does find something interesting amongst Eva's possessions.

When another young woman, who looked much like Eva was killed in a similar manner, the police are forced to question whether they got the right person in the first case.  In Christmas Eve, a woman is attacked, fortunately she survives, but barely.  DI Grant is shocked at how much she looks like the two dead women.

As the investigation progresses, it points more and more back to Sweden.  Will Lorimer's trip to Stockholm bring the killer to bay?

Author Alex Gray's murder mystery isn't fast paced, rather has the slog of a real investigation, which in this case is instigated by a young girl's search for the truth.  A real page turner, and hard to put down.