The Forbidden Place

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What to expect

Bad things happen in Mossmarken... and now Nathalie has come home, they seem to be happening again. A dark, brilliant suspense novel from a fantastic new voice in international literature.

In the remote Swedish wetlands lies Mossmarken: the village on the edge of the mire where, once upon a time, people came to leave offerings to the gods.

Biologist Nathalie came in order to study the peat bogs. But she has a secret: Mossmarken was once her home, a place where terrible things happened. She has returned at last, determined to confront her childhood trauma and find out the truth.

Soon after her arrival, she finds an unconscious man out on the marsh, his pockets filled with gold - just like the ancient human sacrifices. A grave is dug in the mire, which vanishes a day after. And as the police investigate, the bodies start to surface...

Is the mire calling out for sacrifices, as the superstitious locals claim? Or is it an all-too-human evil?
An international sensation, THE FORBIDDEN PLACE is a darkly gripping tale of the stories we tell ourselves to survive, and the terrible consequences they can have.

(P)2018 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

Critics Review

  • A bone-chillingly cool crime debut.

    Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train

  • The atmosphere is what makes me fall, head over heels: a lonely woman who rents out her city apartment and heads out into the wilderness . . . The Forbidden Place is one of the best and most complete debut novels I’ve ever read

    Lotta Olsson, Dagens Nyheter

  • Susanne Jansson’s debut novel is thrilling, at times both creepy and frightening…sent shivers down my spine.

    Nya Wermlands Tidning

  • Jansson paints an atmospheric and mysterious portrait of the mire with the help of mist, light, and old legends. It becomes a place where life and death collide, a sort of anteroom to the realm of the dead…one of the absolute best suspense debuts this year

    Crimegarden

  • A well-balanced combination of horror, suspense, folklore, and biology…it leaves you begging for more.

    Johannas deckarhörna

  • Fans of Scandi Noir are sure to be hooked on this atmospheric and suspenseful thriller.

    Marika Cobbold

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