A Harmless Lie

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USA TODAY “5 Books Not To Miss” • NY POST “Required Reading”

“Sara Blaedel writes novels as twisty as spirals and electric with intelligence.  A HARMLESS LIE is a labyrinth of a mystery, dense and dangerous. Come get lost in it.” —A.J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

“Riveting…It’s tailor-made for Karin Slaughter’s readers.” —Library Journal (STARRED REVIEW)

A woman is haunted by a heartwrenching decision she made as a teenager in this darkly atmospheric, deeply emotional thriller from #1 internationally bestselling global superstar Sara Blaedel.

Detective Louise Rick is on a beach in Thailand when the panicked call from her father comes through. Louise′s beloved brother, Mikkel, has attempted suicide. His wife, Trine, left him days earlier, walking out the door one day with no warning and leaving Mikkel devastated.

Louise rushes home to Osted, the small, insular Danish town where she grew up and where Mikkel still lives. But the more Louise learns about Trine—a devoted wife and the mother of two young children—and her state of mind in the days before she left Mikkel, the more Louise begins to wonder whether Trine really meant to leave him. Or whether something much darker may have taken place.

As the local police begin to suspect that Mikkel may have had a hand in Trine’s disappearance, Louise struggles to clear his name but is forced to confront some hard truths: Small towns always hide secrets. The past always comes back to haunt you. And lies are never harmless.

”One of the best I’ve come across.” —Michael Connelly

“An intense, atmospheric starting point for those who haven’t yet discovered Denmark’s favorite cop.” —BooklistPRAISE FOR SARA BLAEDEL AND THE LOUISE RICK SERIES

“Sara Blædel is at the top of her game. Louise Rick is a character who will have readers coming back for more.” —Camilla Läckberg
 
”One of the best I’ve come across.” —Michael Connelly
 
“Sara Blaedel is a force to be reckoned with. She’s a remarkable crime writer who time and again delivers a solid, engaging storythat any reader in the world can enjoy.” —Karin Slaughter

“Louise Rick is my favorite kind of female lead, tough but tender, and Blaedel knows how to keep you turning the pages.” —Lisa Unger

“Crime-writer superstar Sara Blaedel’s great skill is in weaving a heartbreaking social history into an edge-of-your-chair thriller while at the same time creating a detective who’s as emotionally rich and real as a close friend.” —Oprah.com

Praise for A HARMLESS LIE

NEW YORK POST “Required Reading”
USA TODAY “5 Books Not To Miss”

“Sara Blaedel writes novels as twisty as spirals and electric with intelligence. Her sophisticated mysteries hum with warmth and life, and double as inquiries into social and justice systems rigged against those who, heartbreakingly, need them most. Her detective, Louise Rick, is one of the most appealing, most layered, and most compelling heroes to stride onto a crime scene in at least fifty years. And in A HARMLESS LIE– an ideal point of entry for new readers – Blaedel has devised a labyrinth of a mystery for her, dense and dangerous. Come get lost in it.”—A.J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

“Sara Blædel is an undisputed master in creating both suspense and interestingmulti-dimensional characters.” —Max Seek, author of The Witch Hunter

“Five years after her last book in the series, Blaedel returns with a riveting story that combines a journalist’s investigation of a cold case with the police search for a missing woman. It’s tailor-made for Karin Slaughter’s readers.”—Library Journal (STARRED REVIEW)

“Blaedel does a good job depicting abnormal psyches and, through harrowing flashbacks, the cliquish cruelty of adolescent girls. Scandinoir fans will be satisfied.”—Publishers Weekly

“Another spellbinding thrill-ride. Full of mystery and intrigue you’re hooked right from the very beginning…” — Red Carpet Crash

“Despite having not read the first 8 volumes of the Detective Louise Rick series by Sara Blaedel, it immediately immersed me in the story of Louise Rick. A Harmless Lie is written with the intention of Blaedel not assuming that everyone has read the entire series. I did not feel I was missing anything, but had the urge to go back and read the first eight books, as this book was that good.”—Mystery & Suspense Magazine

“It’s clear why Sara Blaedel has been named Denmark’s most popular novelist several years running. She’s adept at both constructing a propulsive plot and giving her characters rich and complex inner lives. This might have been my first foray into her books, but it certainly won’t be my last.” —BookReporter

“The characters in this haunting novel have depth, intricate back stories and complicated relationships. The plot engages the reader in trying to decipher clues from the past and the present…. A HARMLESS LIE is an absorbing and worthwhile read.” —Reviewing the Evidence

“A fast, compelling book.”—Kirkus

“An intense, atmospheric starting point for those who haven’t yet discovered Denmark’s favorite cop.” —Booklist

Praise for THE FORGOTTEN GIRLS

“Crackling with suspense, atmosphere, and drama, The Forgotten Girls is simply stellar crime fiction.” —Lisa Unger

“For readers who gorge on captivating characters and chilling suspense, The Forgotten Girls is a tantalizing treat. Enjoy yourself, America.” —Sandra Brown
 
“Tautly suspenseful and sociologically fascinating, The Forgotten Girls demonstrates yet again that the finest contemporary suspense fiction emanates from Europe’s snowbound North.” ―BookPage
 
“This is a standout book that will only solidify the author’s well-respected standing in crime fiction. Blaedel drops clues that will leave readers guessing right up to the reveal. Each new lead opens an array of possibilities, and putting the book down became a feat this reviewer was unable to achieve. Based on the history of treating the disabled, the story is both horrifying and all-to-real. Even the villains have nuanced and sympathetic motives.” ―RT Times – Top Pick **Winner of the Reviewer’s Choice Award for Contemporary Mystery**

“Gripping.”―Washington Post

“The Forgotten Girls is without doubt the best the author has delivered so far…strikingly well done….the chances are good that The Forgotten Girls will become your favorite crime novel for a long time to come.”―Børsen (Denmark)

“The Forgotten Girls has it all. At its heart, it is a puzzling, intricate mystery whose solution packs a horrific double-punch…Once you start, you will have no choice but to finish it.”―BookReporter

“A sharp protagonist who wrestles with her own failings and fears, in a skillfully told
story that is typically dark in the manner of Nordic crime fiction.”―Booklist
 
“Sara Blaedel’s The Forgotten Girls is an emotionally complex police-procedural thriller set in Denmark. With a gripping premise, fast-paced narrative and well-developed characters, The Forgotten Girls is an incredible read.”―FreshFiction.com

Praise for THE KILLING FOREST

“Another suspenseful, skillfully wrought entry from Denmark’s Queen of Crime.”―Booklist

“Will push you to the edge of your seat [then] knock you right off….A smashing success.”―BookReporter

“Engrossing…Blaedel nicely balances the twisted relationships of the cult members with the true friendships of Louise, Camilla, and their circle.”―Publishers Weekly

“Blaedel delivers another thrilling novel…Twists and turns will have readers on the edge of their seats waiting to see what happens next.”―RT Book Reviews

Praise for THE LOST WOMAN

“Blaedel solidifies once more why her novels are as much finely drawn character studies as tightly plotted procedurals, always landing with a punch to the gut and the heart.”―Library Journal (STARRED REVIEW)

“Sara Blaedel is a literary force of nature….Blaedel strikes a fine and delicate balance between the personal and the professional in THE LOST WOMAN, as she has done with the other books in this wonderful series. …Those who can’t get enough of finely tuned mysteries…will find this book and this author particularly riveting.”―BookReporter

“Long-held secrets and surprising connections rock Inspector Louise Rick’s world in Blaedel’s latest crime thriller. …The limits of loyalty and trust, and the complexities of grief, are central to this taut thriller’s resolution. A rich cast of supporting characters balances the bleakness of the crimes.” ―RT Book Reviews (4 STARS)

“Leads to…that gray territory where compassion can become a crime and kindness can lead to coldblooded murder.”―New York Times Book Review

“Blaedel, Denmark’s most popular author, is known for her dark mysteries, and she examines the controversial social issue at the heart of this novel, but ends on a surprisingly light note. Another winner from Blaedel.” ―Booklist

“Engrossing.” ―Toronto Star

“Deliciously dark…[A] great tale!”―Suspense Magazine

“Worth the wait.”―Winnipeg Free PressSara Blaedel is the author of the #1 internationally bestselling series featuring Detective Louise Rick. Her books are published in thirty-eight countries. In 2020 Sara was voted Denmark′s most popular novelist for the fifth time. She is also a recipient of the Golden Laurel, Denmark′s most prestigious literary award.

One

 

“Louise Rick, Louise Rick!”

 

He pronounced her name “Lois Wreck.”

 

The evening sun cast a deep golden glow over the ocean that stretched out before her, deep blue as far as the eye could see. She’d been sitting on the beach all day-and it had been an insanely hot one-and was still sitting there, unable to muster the enthusiasm to move.

 

She ignored him. She felt heavy, slow, and sluggish from the emptiness inside her.

 

“Emergency!” he yelled. “It’s about your family. Please come to the phone!”

 

He approached where she was sitting at the water’s edge, leaving a trail of footprints behind him in the wet sand. He was wheezing, out of breath. As his words finally sank in, she turned and stared at him in alarm. “What is it? What’s going on?”

 

He held his hand out to help her up off the small towel she’d brought along from the hotel room.

 

“Please come,” he repeated, his voice shrill now. He turned and began running back across the street to the hotel, darting past the food stands that had been set up between the parked cars. The scooters that zipped down the street in front of the hotel day and night were making their usual racket, but Louise didn’t hear them as she followed the man through a small opening in the palm trees.

 

Thailand hadn’t been her choice, but the family had made a deal when she’d taken six months’ leave from the police department. Louise was between jobs; she’d just left the Missing Persons Department to take on a new role as the head of the Homicide Department. But before beginning her new job, she’d wanted to spend some time traveling, and the family had come to an agreement that each of the four members would be allowed to pick out one place they wanted to see. They’d started in Mexico, which her foster son, Jonas, had chosen. After exploring Mayan ruins, they had journeyed on to South America, Africa, and India. They’d been on the road for four months so far. A small double family: Louise and Jonas, her partner, Eik, and his daughter, Stephanie. All that was in the past, though. Now she was still in Thailand, but alone.

 

In the reception area, the man led Louise to a desk behind the counter, where the telephone was waiting for her. Her own phone was in her room. Shut off.

 

“International call,” he said, pointing at the receiver.

 

Louise froze. Lately, she’d been doing everything she could to shut out reality and now this call was about to confront her with it.

 

She sank down on the chair by the table, and the man put the receiver into her hand. She raised it to her ear and spoke in a hush.

 

“Hello.”

 

“It’s Mikkel.” She barely recognized her father’s voice. “He tried to commit suicide. He’s in the hospital in Roskilde; we’re here with him.”

 

He paused for a moment and took a deep, trembling breath. “They don’t know if he’ll survive. I think you should come home.”

 

 

Mikkel. Her brother was two and a half years younger than her. They were close, though not as close as they would have been if Louise had stayed in Mid Sealand instead of running off to Copenhagen after her boyfriend Klaus had died. But Louise had been desperate to get away at the time-KlausÕs death had traumatized her so much that she hadnÕt even been able to attend his funeral. Still, she and Mikkel kept in close touch, and she was godmother to both of his children. ÒThe Terrorists,Ó as her mother had called her grandchildren when they were toddlers. Now they were four and six, and not quite as wild. At least Kirstine wasnÕt. Malte was still a handful, but Louise had a soft spot for her nephew, even though a houseful of screaming kids wasnÕt exactly her cup of tea.

 

“I’ll come.”

 

She had trouble letting go of the receiver once they’d said goodbye. Her Mikkel, who had gone to Klaus’s funeral and placed a red rose on his coffin for her. The brother whose world had collapsed when his wife left him with two small children and a house in Osted, with bills he couldn’t pay. He’d taken on extra work as a deliveryman and had driven all over the country, in the little time he had left over from his job selling spare parts for Volvo in Roskilde.

 

That had gone on for almost a year, until Trine had finally come back to him. And since then he’d seemed genuinely happy. Louise had often thought that Trine’s year away might actually have been good for them because they now seemed closer than ever. There was an air of peace about them, a new sense of comfortableness in their relationship. Louise hadn’t cared much for her sister-in-law while she had been away from her family. But that was ancient history now; as long as her brother was happy, so was Louise.

 

She’d always thought she would do anything for her little brother. Climb any mountain, walk any desert, though he would have been irritated to hear her say that. He was a head taller than her and didn’t look at all like someone who needed his big sister to take care of him. Still, she’d vowed that she’d always be there for him, no matter what.

 

 

Louise slept for most of the flight home. After Eik, Jonas, and Stephanie had left, a local Thai pharmacist had begun supplying her with sleeping pills. Normally they required a prescription, but she had smooth-talked her way out of needing to see a doctor. The pills had gotten her through the nights alone.

 

Because it was an emergency, she was allowed to leave the small, sleazy tourist hotel without paying for the entire week, which they could have insisted on. There wasn’t much good to say about the room, and nothing good at all to say about the bed or the tiny shower stall, which specialized in icy water at a trickle. On the other hand, she had nothing but praise for the man at the reception desk, who turned out to be the owner-he told her so on the way to the airport. He had offered her a lift, and he’d also been the one who’d figured out the fastest way for her to get back to Denmark.

 

Which turned out to be three connecting flights, though with short layovers between them. She spent the trip in a fog of sleep, anxiety, sorrow, and a sense of unreality. Like a bad dream that had somehow invaded real life, making her head spin and her joints feel stiff. On top of that was the fact that she hadn’t managed to eat since her father’s call, and she hadn’t drunk much, either. In fact, she hadn’t taken in much at all during the past few weeks after saying goodbye to the others. Her body had come to a standstill; it felt like torture when she tried to force something down. She was off her feed, as her father would have put it, though he was usually referring to birds.

 

Her suitcase was one of the first ones to pop out, thanks to the red tag the hotel owner had convinced the woman at the airport to fasten onto the handle in order to expedite its voyage through the airports. Louise had lost all sense of time. She glanced at her phone and saw that it was nearly seven-thirty in the evening.

 

 

She spotted her father immediately after she passed through customs. He was standing off to the left in the arrivals hall. The second he saw her, he engulfed her in a huge hug, which roadblocked the other passengers trying to drag their suitcases through the gate.

 

He held her so tightly that Louise couldn’t breathe enough to even ask about her brother. Or maybe she just didn’t dare. More than a day had gone by since his call. The first twenty-four hours were crucial; she knew that from experience. They were the hours that separated life from death. When her father finally let go of her, she took a step back and quickly studied his face.

 

“They say he’ll survive,” he whispered with relief, though his voice was husky. “The doctors don’t think he suffered any permanent damage, but it was close. If your mother hadn’t gone over to visit when she did, Mikkel would be dead. He was unconscious when she found him.”

 

The anxiety drained out of her body, leaving her giddy and light, almost as if she were floating. “Can we drive over to the hospital now?”

 

He shook his head. “They told us he needs to rest this evening. He’s not well, he’s not himself, but you can visit him tomorrow.”

 

Her father grabbed her suitcase and led her to the exit. Still in a daze, she barely registered the hum of voices and the low sun on her face as they walked out. The specter of an impending disaster had overwhelmed her, put her body on high alert. And now it was slowly loosening its grip. At last she could breathe. They stashed her suitcase in the trunk, and he backed the car out of the parking space.

 

When they reached the freeway, he asked about the others. Specifically about Jonas. Louise answered vaguely. She told him everything was fine, that they all said hello. She assured him that Eik and the kids understood she had no choice. She’d needed to come home.

 

“You can fly back and join up with them again,” he said, as if apologizing for interrupting her vacation now that her brother wasn’t about to die after all.

 

The freeway signs flew by. Though she’d been gone a long time, the way home was still familiar to her and she didn’t pay much attention. She thought about Mikkel. How could her brother have even considered committing suicide? He knew how devastated she had felt during all the years she’d believed, falsely, that her boyfriend Klaus had killed himself. She was the one who had found him hanging above the stairway in the house they’d just moved into.

 

After several minutes of silence, she asked, “What happened? How did he do it?”

 

Her father stared straight ahead at the cars in front of them as the silence lengthened. After what felt like forever, he said, “Car exhaust. Mikkel closed the garage door and started the car. We were taking care of the kids; they’d stayed the night. But your mother wanted to pick something up at the house the next morning before taking them back, and she heard the car idling out there.”

 

“Car exhaust!” Louise knew that nowadays people seldom did it that way. Only the very poor or the very rich, the pathologists liked to say. It didn’t really work with new cars that were equipped with catalytic converters. So it was usually someone with either an older car or an antique one.

 

She felt her father’s eyes on her. “He must’ve been out there a long time.” Her throat clogged up; if the garage was sealed tight enough, in time he would have easily died of carbon monoxide poisoning. “What about Trine? Didn’t she hear him go out?”

 

“Your brother was alone.”

 

Her father’s voice was still raspy. Louise studied him, but then she let it go. She was too tired, couldn’t handle it right now. She turned on the radio, leaned her head back, and listened to the news.

 

“Police have identified the remains of a body found last week on Bornholm. Susan Dahlgaard, a fourteen-year-old girl who disappeared more than two decades ago during a field trip with her class from Osted School in Mid Sealand, was found in a cave in Echo Valley, a popular site for visitors on the island. Identification was made difficult by the condition of the body, and at this moment, the cause of death is undetermined.”

 

Louise straightened up in her seat. This was one of the cases the Missing Persons Department had been involved in back when she was working there. Her former colleague Olle had a picture of Susan Dahlgaard on the wall behind his desk, along with photos of several other people from cold cases the media often returned to, keeping their memories alive. Back when the young schoolgirl had disappeared, there had been an exhaustive search. Bornholm police had requested the assistance of the Mobile Crime Unit, and the best canine trackers in the country had been called in to aid the local dog patrols. Thirty men with highly trained dogs had combed the entire area around the Svaneke Hostel, where the girl’s class had been staying. The next week, a new team had been sent over to relieve them, and the search had gone on this way for several weeks before being abandoned. With no evidence having been turned up by the dog teams, the police theorized that she’d been abducted and taken off the island. The girl’s photo had been shown on newscasts and posters around the country. The department called a search like this “the whole package,” and it included reviewing all pertinent international records.

 

The three friends Susan had shared a room with had last seen her at the harbor in Svaneke, where they’d split up. The four girls had left the hostel while they were supposed to be asleep in their rooms, sharing two bikes between them. During questioning, the girls stated that they had biked down to the harbor, where Susan had agreed to meet up with some Bornholm boys they’d met earlier. The other girls left her in front of the convenience store at the harbor and never saw her again. The boys confirmed meeting the girls there, but they claimed Susan hadn’t been with them later in the evening. There’d been no further traces of the fourteen-year-old.

 

Louise had been in high school in Roskilde when Susan disappeared. That had been several years before she applied for police school, but even back then the case had intrigued her because Osted was close to Hvals¿, where she had gone to elementary school. Her class had also taken the traditional weeklong field trip to Bornholm, and her memories of it had been fresh. The day before they left, she had broken her collarbone playing soccer. She still went on the trip even though her shoulder and left arm had been bandaged tightly, and her friends had to help dress her and tie her shoes. At the same time, it had been a great excuse to duck out of the long bike tours of the island, which suited her just fine.

 

Now Louise closed her eyes and recalled the trip. How hard the Bornholm ferry had rocked, causing many of her classmates to throw up. How they had bought a smoked herring packed in newspaper at the smokehouse. And a gigantic ice cream cone at the Gudhjem harbor . . .

US

Additional information

Dimensions	0.7800 × 5.5400 × 8.2400 in
Imprint	Dutton
ISBN-13	09780593330944
ISBN-10	0593330943
Author	Sara Blaedel
Audience	General / adult
BISAC	FIC050000, FIC022080
Subjects	books mystery, suspense thriller books, suspense thrillers, crime books, detective novels, mystery thriller suspense, murder mystery books, fiction books, mysteries and thrillers, books fiction, suspense books, mystery and thrillers, mystery and thriller, crime novels, collusion, scandinavian crime, nordic crime, louise rick, louise rick series, crime fiction, crime, thriller, fiction, FIC050000, detective, suspense, mystery, novels, police, thrillers, mysteries, FIC022080, betrayal, mystery and suspense, mystery books, mystery novels, thriller books