Their home on the outskirts of Stockholm has been sold; Joakim is making one last trip back to bring the last of their belongings. He is getting an early start and will return late in the day. The children will be in preschool and Katrine will continue working on the house. On his return trip Joakim is contacted by the police informing him that his daughter is dead. In a panic, Joakim rushes home only to find it is not his daughter but his wife who has died, apparently by an accidental drowning.

Heartbroken, Joakim cannot bear to tell his children of the horrible loss and elects to tell them merely that Mommy is gone for a unspecified period of time. The children accept his explanation but Livia has nightmares in which she claims she has seen her mother. Joakim also is having trouble sleeping. He hears strange noises and discovers some odd names carved on one of the walls in the barn.

As the days pass Joakim learns that the house has quite a history, and, while no one will come right out and say it, some locals feel the property is haunted. Although the official ruling is death by misadventure, Tilda Davidsson, of the local police, suspects that Katrine may have been murdered and elects to conduct her own unofficial investigation. Her initial interview with Joakim does not go well and she suspects he has secrets of his own though he is undoubtedly grief stricken at the loss of his wife.

At once a mystery, ghost story, and tangled relationships, The Darkest Room is a carefully constructed tale. A major part of the back story is Katrine’s family history which is told chronologically in separate chapters interwoven into the main plot. As we learn about Katrine’s mother and grandmother, the motives for moving from Stockholm become obvious, yet more and more complex. Tilda’s elderly relative Gerlof also provides background on the history of Oland, offering what he knows about the lighthouse keepers and the manor house.

While the tone of the novel is a somber one, encompassing not only the recent death of Katrine but Joakim’s sister, Ethel, and Katrine’s grandmother's deaths, the cheerfulness of the children who are eagerly awaiting Christmas, and Joakim’s resolution to carrying on for his children’s sake lightens the mood somewhat. The major characters struggle with their inability to do what they think they should or ought to be able to do and have not done, but the children provide hope for the future.

The setting is as much a character as the people who act out the drama. Sweden, especially its islands, can be a forbidding place in the winter. The fury of a winter storm is vividly described, firmly instilling the belief that the only sane place to be during such a time is indoors near a source of heat. Mother Nature can be as ruthless as dispassionate killers.

A nod should be given to the translator, Marlene Delargy . She has provided a readable novel which flows well and makes sense in English. The strength of the weather and the emotions of the characters come through clearly providing an enjoyable armchair trip to Sweden in the wintertime, probably the best way to do it unless you are into extreme sports.

--Andy Plonka