Child’s Play

Bo Svernström

A new crime thriller featuring Carl Edson and Jodie Söderberg by the bestselling author of Victims.

Robert Lindström harbours a childhood secret: he killed his best friend Max in a fit of rage when he was eleven years old. Or, did he?

Robert was accused of murder as a child, even though he claims not to remember any details of what happened. Due to lack of evidence and being a minor at the time, Robert was never convicted of the crime, but he was ostracised in the community, assumed guilty, and ended up in foster care. As a result of his childhood, even as an adult he leads a reclusive and mundane life. Until one day, when Lexa, a journalist writing a book about Robert and the case, calls him up. She seeks to enlist his help, bringing everything Robert has tried to hide—and forget—for so long back to the surface in the process. Lexa has a theory: Robert is innocent. Then why does he keep saying he did it?

At the same time, the body of a young girl is discovered in a secluded spot near the school where she went missing the day before. At the time of her disappearance a white car, matching Robert’s vehicle, was seen nearby. Is it a coincidence that the girl was found dead in the same Stockholm suburb where Robert grew up, and where he and Lexa are going over the original case? Chief Inspector Carl Edson heads up the disturbing investigation, where strange incidents leads them closer and closer to the truth about Robert and the dark events in his childhood.

CHILD’S PLAY is Bo Svernström’s second book, a standalone sequel to his successful debut Victims, which has sold over 30,000 copies nationally, with a #1 spot on Akademibokhandeln’s paperback bestseller list in 2018, and with rights sold to 11 territories and counting.

‘A well-written page-turning crime novel with many unexpected twists, which is exhilarating and dramatic… The main characters come alive on the page, they are completely credible, and the setting and atmosphere feels authentic.’

— BTJ, Bibliotekstjänst

‘A beautiful piece of work; a lot of exhilarating tension, psychological depth and well-developed characters, each with their moral dilemmas.’

— Thrillzone (Holland)