Good Night, My Darling

Inger Frimansson grew up in and around various locales in Sweden. She presently lives in Södertälje. She is Sweden's most popular author of psychological thrillers. She is known for showing the dark side of seemingly perfect families. She has received the Swedish Academy of Mystery Authors Award for Best Swedish Crime Novel for both GOOD NIGHT, MY DARLING and THE SHADOW IN THE WATER. Justine Dalvik lost her mother when she was three. Her father was a businessman who traveled constantly. Like many men who lose their wives, he turned to the closest woman he could find and married her. She turned out to be an evil stepmother who was narcissistic and only wanted to control Justine. Her methods were cruel beyond belief, and Justine became a willing victim for her, a selfish and nasty clique of girls at school who tormented her, and finally, a willing sex slave to an older man who cried because he knew it was wrong. Finally, Justine snapped and the deaths began: "Nathan was walking along the riverbank in order to find a spot to piss. No one saw her take Madh's blow pipe. No one saw her follow him, follow Nathan. He stood and contemplated the water and the rapids. He stood and rolled a cigarette. He had formed his mouth to whistle, but she didn't hear anything but the thunder of the waterfall. The dart hit him right between the shoulder blades." The first thing one notices about Inger Frimansson's writing is the sheer power. The reader is right there with the unlikely anti-heroine, feeling her pain as she absorbs one outrage after another. This novel is an excellent psychological thriller, on par with something Alfred Hitchcock would have made into a movie. It is easy to understand Frimansson's popularity in Sweden. Her skill at creating the setting; characters; and plot is on par with a religious experience. GOOD NIGHT, MY DARLING is not an easy novel to read. But once started, one simply can't put it down. Frimansson is a master storyteller. Shelley Glodowski Senior Reviewer