Finished Call Me Princess by Sara Blaedel. I received a copy for review. This is the second book in Blaedel’s Louise Rick series. (I recently reviewed the third book and will soon—but not soon enough—review the fourth and most recent book, which is out soon…but not soon enough.)
In this installment, Louise Rick is investigating a brutal rape. It turns out that Susanne met her attacker online on a dating site. And THEN it turns out that she’s not the only victim. Unfortunately, there are a lot of internet dating sites. And obviously he didn’t give her his real name. So how can Louise Rick find this guy before he chooses his next “date”?
I absolutely loved Only One Life so I was beyond excited to learn that there was another book in the series. And I was even more happy when I was able to get it for review.
I know that this type of story has been done to death (we ARE all aware of the danger of the internet by now, right?) but Sara Blaedel makes it seem completely unique. No small amount of praise for that goes to the character of Louise Rick. Police procedurals are also nothing new, but she isn’t your generic police officer in your average mystery story. (Given that her best friend is a reporter, if she WERE the generic police officer, this would be The Women’s Murder Club. Instead, Louise and Camilla are both fully realized characters, with lives that extend well past their jobs.)
I’m glad that foreign mystery/suspense novels are so hot right now, because Sara Blaedel’s books should be bestsellers and as ubiquitous as that Girl Who… trilogy is. (They already are in Denmark, where she’s been dubbed The Queen of Crime.)
This book was unsettling but also amazing. (I say “unsettling” because it’s scary to think about just how prevalent the internet is and how much people share of themselves online; things they may not tell their actual IRL friends are routinely discussed on blogs and boards. And I know several people who met their significant others online, so obviously there are happy endings. But it’s also not unheard of for people to have an experience closer to Susanne’s. And this book is just brutal in terms of reminding you that internet people are strangers—you know what they want you to know.)
Highly recommended.
