The highly anticipated sequel to the international bestselling gothic mystery, Yule Island.

When two teenagers are found brutally murdered on the island of Lidingö, dressed in white tunics and wearing crowns of candles, former French police officer Maïa Rehn joins local Commissioner Aleksander Storm to unravel a mystery with a shockingly dark heart.

Book blurb

Twenty-three years ago, a young woman was murdered on the Swedish island of Lidingö.  The island has kept its silence. 

Until now…

As autumn deepens into darkness in Lidingö, on the Stockholm archipelago, the island is plunged into chaos: in the space of a week, two teenaged boys are murdered. Their bodies are left deep in the forest, dressed in white tunics with crowns of candles on their heads, like offerings to Saint Lucia.

Maïa Rehn has fled Paris for Lidingö after a family tragedy. But when the murders shake the island community, the former police commissioner is drawn into the heart of the investigation, joining Commissioner Aleksander Storm to unravel a mystery as chilling as the Nordic winter.

As they dig deeper, it becomes clear that a wind of vengeance is blowing through the archipelago, unearthing secrets that are as scandalous as they are inhuman.

But what if the victims weren’t who they seemed? What if those long silenced have finally found a way to strike back?

How far would they go to make their tormentors pay?

And you – how far would you go?

My thoughts

You are back on Lidingö and it’s as if you’ve never been away. In a dark and chilling story of grief, deception, rape, control, abuse, suicide, murder, revenge; how abusers, rapist deny or come to accept their guilt and how the victims coped at the time and afterward whether, how survivors are able to go on.

There is an important passage in this book between Maïa and Linga Holgersson that discusses why someone who is attacked reacts in a particular way this fact along with the other strong messages Scars of Silence gives – that sexual intercourse is only consensual when the woman says yes, that not only saying no but saying nothing means no; that children who are abused are not responsible. That no one ‘deserves it’. That no one ‘asks for it’ – it is the rapist and the abusers that are responsible. This should be shared widely and often with everyone but particularly with those who have been raped, those who make judgment at trial and lawmakers because it is beyond time that these truths be accepted.

I know and it is made clear in Scars of Silence that it is not every man. Still, it is the responsibility of every man – and those that educate and raise them – to ensure (whether unwittingly or not) that their actions, words and deeds do no harm, that they understand to commit or even to silently accept these deeds is wrong, that they have no right to commit or allow others to commit these despicable acts.

Maïa and Aleksander also have their own personal stories revealed as they interact with each other and with the other characters in this book. They are both law enforcement officers Aleksander is in charge of the investigation into the murder of two teenagers. Maïa is a police commissioner from France who has come to Lindingö to hopefully heal after a terrible loss and is asked by Sophia to look into an old crime that was very personal to her. The two investigations will bring Maïa and Aleksander together to find out what actually happened over two decades ago and how it is connected to these recent murders.

Maïa is a great character – of which there are quite a few in this story – who has an amazing ability to allow people the space and silence to open up and so bring to light things that had previously been overlooked, ignored or forgotten but that help Aleksander’s police investigation. Aleksander is a good policeman, a loving husband and father and is the perfect foil for Maïa’s private investigation. They work well together albeit unofficially, the skills both bring to these investigations are nicely matched and the way in which the author has written this multilayered story is exquisitely done.

Johana Gustawsson is an extraordinary writer she has written layer of upon layer of heartbreaking storylines that are skilfully told within the complex, compelling and powerful narrative of Scars of Silence. This book is not gratuitous there is no uncalled for or graphic violence. It is told by the two main characters Maïa and Aleksander and it holds your attention completely, totally there is not a moment when you want to stop reading.

The author has written a remarkable book and we must thank the translator, David Warriner, whose skilful work has made it possible for us to read Scars of Silence.

There is so much more to this book that I could say but the best way of finding this out is to read it and I encourage everyone to do so and I hope you will agree with me on how incredible Scars of Silence is.

Thanks

I’m so delighted to be able to join in with this BlogTour for the publication of Scars of Silence by Johana Gustawsson. Huge thanks to the publisher Orenda Books for providing an eARC in order to read and share my thoughts on Scars of Silence. Also to Anne (Random Things Tours) for the invitation.

Translation

Thanks also to Orenda Books for bringing this wonderfully well written and translated book to English readers and to David Warriner for his terrific translation.

Wandering thoughts

Even before the story began I was intrigued by the epigram a haunting quote from ‘If you must, sing’ in Seachanger – Wave Weaver by Sussi Louise Smith.

Ilkley Gazette Article: Ilkley library welcomes artist Danish artist and author Sussi Louise Smith

BlogTour

Why not check out these wonderful blogs to read more about Yule Island and then visit Orenda Books to buy your very own copy.

Information

Published: Orenda Books Ltd | 6th November 2025 | 300 pp | Hardback | £16.99

Translator

Buy: Orenda Books Ltd | Amazon | Bookshop.org (affiliate link) | Hive | Your local library | Your local bookshop

Author

Born in Marseilles, France Johana Gustawsson has a degree in Solitical Science. She has worked as a journalist for the French and Spanish press and television.

Her critically acclaimed Roy & Castells series – Block 46, Keeper and Blood Song – won the Plume d’Argent, Balai de la découverte, Balai d’Or and Prix Marseillais du Polar awards, and is now published in 23 countries. A TV adaptation is currently under way in a French, Swedish and UK co-production. 

The Bleeding was a number-one bestseller in France, receiving critical acclaim across the globe, and Yule Island is the winner of France’s biggest retailer, Cultura’s, Book of the Year award for best fiction book of 2023, Crime fiction book of the year at seven different festivals and has been optioned for the screen.

Johana teamed up with Norwegian crime writer Thomas Enger to write the international bestselling mystery SON to immense critical acclaim.

Johana Gustawsson is regarded as France’s most prestigious, successful female crime writer. She lives in Sweden with her Swedish husband and their three sons.

Follow Johana:  @JoGustawsson | @johanagustawsson | Johana Gustawsson | Orenda author page: Johana Gustawsson| Amazon author page: Johana Gustawsson

Books

Also by Johana Gustawsson and available from Orenda Books

The Roy & Castells Series – Block 46 | Keeper | Blood Song

Standalone – The Bleeding

Lidingio Mysteries – Yule Island | Scars of Silence