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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 839.738
EAN num: 9780385339827
ISBN number: 0385339828
Label: Delacorte Press
Manufacturer: Delacorte Press
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 352
Printing Date: January 30, 2007
Publishing house: Delacorte Press
Release Date: January 30, 2007
Sale Popularity Level: 626439
Studio: Delacorte Press
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Product Description:
It’s midsummer in Sweden—when the light lingers through dawn and a long, isolating winter finally comes to an end. In this magical time, a brutal killer has chosen to strike. A female priest—who made enemies and acolytes in equal number—has been found hanging in her church. And a big-city lawyer quite acquainted with death enters the scene as police and parishioners try to pick up the pieces....
Not long ago, attorney Rebecka Martinsson had to kill three men in order to stop an eerily similar murder spree—one that also involved a priest. Now she is back in Kiruna, the region of her birth, while a determined policewoman gnaws on the case and people who loved or loathed the victim mourn or revel in her demise. The further Rebecka is drawn into the mystery—a mystery that will soon take another victim—the more the dead woman’s world clutches her: a world of hurt and healing, sin and sexuality, and, above all, of sacrifice.
In prose that is both lyrical and visceral, Åsa Larsson has crafted a novel of pure entertainment, a taut, atmospheric mystery that will hold you in thrall until the last, unforgettable page is turned
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Rated by buyers -
This novel takes place Kiruna, in northern Sweden. A woman priest is found murdered, and it seems as though she had few friends. An attorney winds up involved in the case along, with a female inspector. The story makes some dark flashbacks as we see that the spirit of despair lurks in more than one character's life. Infighting among the town residents, church politics, and the puzzle of who could be the criminal, all compel the reader through this tautly paced book. Although it has some weak spots, overall I enjoyed it. (This review is based on the audio book.)
Rated by buyers -
I read 'Spilt Blood' simply because the author is Swedish and the book takes place northern Sweden. Having spent 3 years in Sweden many years ago, I lapped it up (no pun intended). The description of the Swedish woods, and Rebecca's feelings about the woods so mirrored my own discoveries, feelings and delights in the gentle Swedish nature, (compared to many American woods which are difficult to safely meander through except on paths) that I became enthralled with Larsson's so beautifully expressed writing. One caveat, I would certainly recommend that one read her very first book 'Sun Storm' very first as the reader will have a tendency to get lost, not in the woods, but in the prose.
Rated by buyers 
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The recorded version of this book is even better than the print version. Like some others I found the sections returning to the wolf's story something to fast forward through. On the whole it provided an interesting set of characters (with a few subplots) and some real suspense about the culprit. It made feel as if I were back in Sweden listening to Swedes speaking English.
Rated by buyers -
The reviews aren't really doing this book justice--although as an ex-lawyer my connection to the main character's mixed feelings about her job and colleagues might have swayed me a bit. Larsson deserves enthusiastic praise for the naturalness of the writing, plenty of detail about the characters' thoughts and dilemmas, and the well-described settings. She also is very skilled at making almost every character appealing in some way, despite major flaws, bad judgment, or mental disorder--all that, and still nothing seemed overdone, sentimentalized, or "romancey". The limited amount of police procedure and forensic chops is really not a problem--the book is still engrossing and entertaining. Can't wait for the next...where is it?
Oh, and the wolf Yellow Legs--hope she appears again, too! A neat element of the story brought to life.
Rated by buyers 
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The other reviewers, including the unsinkable Harriet Klausner, paint an inaccurate picture of the disjointed story that is The Blood Spilt.
The novel takes place in a small Swedish town. A local priest, Mildred, has been murdered in a particularly gruesome fashion; and although many of the town's citizens had reason to dislike her, several had formed strong private bonds with her. Therefore, suspects abound. Murder for hate? love? money? blackmail? All are possibilities.
The novel is noteworthy for an interesting portrayal of a small Swedish village with its typical characters and a true interest in human nature. Literature regarding religious belief in the world shows, however, that Sweden is a largely secular country--and this belies a major element of the story. A strange woman who offends everyone, and a priest to boot, could hardly be noteworthy other than as a gnat that needs swatting. That Swedes in this small village would care either way, especially enough to polarize in the manner suggested by the author, strains credibility.
The book is quite disjointed for a few important reasons. First, Ms. Larsson spends a lot of time with a bunch of local characters and their private dealings with the female priest. This bogs down the story, and we don't have much of a police investigation at all. The detectives don't make any breakthroughs--they just run to every emergency until the finale has played itself out.
The character of Rebeckah (sp?) Martinsson is quite silly. She is obviously a very disturbed and mentally ill person, and Ms. Larsson expects us to like her and follow her exploits through this second novel and on to a third?!
Lastly, there is a strange, bothersome, and even disturbing focus on animals. A somewhat boring, but sustainable police procedural, is regularly interrupted by Yellow Feet (or Yellow Paws, or whatever) stories. Mildred, the frustrating (and murdered) priest, wants to spend church money on protecting a she-wolf (Yellow Feet). No one can reasonably be expected to give a darn about such a silly waste of money, and yet there is a separate short story about a she-wolf finding independence!
The whole idea of female clergy is ridiculous. If a church really uses the Bible as its text, then its members should realize there's no respect for women in christianity or any Nordic version thereof. I can't think why any woman would be interested in a vocation with such an institution, especially when Mildred clearly does not follow several major tenets of the religion.
This is a scatterbrained novel of sorts. It has its moments, but I was so relieved to be finished with it! I won't read another Larsson police procedural.
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