The Crow Girl by Erik Axl Sund review – relentlessly disturbing

The discovery of mutilated children’s bodies sets the scene in this extremely dark international hit from Sweden

A Lisbeth Salander-esque figure adorns the cover of The Crow Girl, signalling its crime fiction pedigree to readers. The work of Erik Axl Sund, the pen name of Swedish duo Jerker Eriksson and Håkan Axlander Sundquist, it is the latest international hit to come out of Scandinavia, trailing an award from the Swedish Academy of Crime Writers and with rights sold in 38 countries.

It’s also very likely to be the most disturbing book you’ll read all year. The novel, translated by Neil Smith, opens with the discovery of the mutilated, tortured, mummified body of a young boy by a Stockholm metro station. Detective superintendent Jeanette Kihlberg, struggling with sexism inside the force as well as a hapless artist husband and a son who isn’t getting enough attention, takes on the case.

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