O's 2012 Summer Reading List

Most thrillers conclude by exposing a killer. Drowned, on the other hand, ends with a larger, more upsetting truth: how we expose ourselves. Young, lost Marina has left her student life in Stockholm to visit her exquisitely beautiful sister, Stella, who just happens to live a life of pastoral bliss with her brilliant artistic older boyfriend. Each day of summer slides by, languorous walks through the gardens and greenhouses filled with orchids and evenings in the living room "like a jewelry box.” But when Stella's boyfriend begins to look at Marina—in that way that's just not kosher—a disquieting atmosphere takes over the house. Author Therese Bohman could be lumped in with the other Scandinavian authors who have taken over the mystery world since The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but her story is more quiet and nuanced, her writing lush enough to create a landscape painting with every scene. No shoot-outs, showdowns or explosions end this story, but be prepared to gasp all the same, not with fear, but with understanding.