The Gallows Bird

Author	Camilla Läckberg
Translator	Steven T. Murray
Language	English
Subject	Popular Fiction-Contemporary Thrillers
Genre	Crime
Publisher	Harpercollins
Publication date	2006
Published in English	March 2011
Pages	378 pages
ISBN	0-00-725400-8
Preceded by	The Stone Cutter
Followed by	Flavours from Fjällbacka

The Gallows Bird (Swedish: Olycksfågeln) is a 2006 novel by Camilla Läckberg, translated by Steven T. Murray in 2011. It is the fourth psychological thriller written by Läckberg.^[1]

Synopsis

Patrik (police officer) and Erica (writer) have reconnected, had a child and are moving headlong into matrimony.^[2] Problems sidelined when a chaotic alcohol-fuelled party ends with the death of an unpopular contestant on a reality TV show.^[3] A woman is found dead, apparently the victim of a car crash: the first in a spate of seemingly inexplicable accidents in Tanumshede.^[4] The car reeks of alcohol and the assumption is that it is a drink drive accident.^[5] It becomes clear there's a serial assassin in the vicinity.^[6] As cameras shadow the stars' every move, relations with the locals are strained to breaking point.^[7] A piece of evidence reveals that a pair of seemingly disparate homicides are linked, a pattern emerges of similar homicides spread over many years- in different regions of Sweden; slowly Patrick realises that these cases are more closely linked than he realises.^[8] Patrick also has his own ephemera to contend with: a wedding to arrange, and Erica′s sister Anna—he′s experiencing stress.^[9]

References