The Cat Did Not Die
Acclaimed Swedish novelist Frimansson (she’s won the award for best Swedish crime novel twice) turns in a stellar performance with this taut, claustrophobic story about a woman who commits a crime in the heat of the moment, covers it up, and watches as her life slowly tears itself apart. Beth Svard, a schoolteacher, kills a man in what she believes to be self-defense (although the circumstances are a bit cloudy). Her husband, Ulf, helps her clean up her mess—even to the extent of burying the body—but he makes no secret of his displeasure. Their marriage, already strained, hovers close to the breaking point as Beth struggles to deal with her guilt. Readers expecting a traditional mystery might find the pace a bit slow. The bulk of the book deals with Beth’s internal battle with her own conscience and her increasingly futile efforts to leave the incident in the past, but patient readers will be rewarded with a haunting psychological thriller that stays with them long after they’ve finished the book. The novel’s final sentence is like a punch in the stomach. --David Pitt