1793: The Wolf And the Watchman

" The Alienist set in eighteenth-century Stockholm: Brawny, bloody, intricate, enthralling?and the best historical thriller I've read in twenty years." ?A.J. Finn, #1 bestselling author of The Woman in the Window "Thrilling, unnerving, clever, and beautiful." ?Fredrik Backman, #1 bestselling author of A Man Called Ove " Chilling and thought-provoking. Relentless, well-written, and nearly impossible to put down." ? Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Named Best Debut Novel of 2017 by the Swedish Academy of Crime Writers One morning in the autumn of 1793, watchman Mikel Cardell is awakened from his drunken slumber with reports of a body seen floating in the Larder, once a pristine lake on Stockholm's Southern Isle, now a rancid bog. Efforts to identify the bizarrely mutilated corpse are entrusted to incorruptible lawyer Cecil Winge, who enlists Cardell's help to solve the case. But time is short: Winge's health is failing, the monarchy is in shambles, and whispered conspiracies and paranoia abound. Winge and Cardell become immersed in a brutal world of guttersnipes and thieves, mercenaries and madams. From a farmer's son who is lead down a treacherous path when he seeks his fortune in the capital to an orphan girl consigned to the workhouse by a pitiless parish priest, their gruesome investigation peels back layer upon layer of the city's labyrinthine society. The rich and the poor, the pious and the fallen, the living and the dead?all collide and interconnect with the body pulled from the lake. Breathtakingly bold and intricately constructed, The Wolf and the Watchman brings to life the crowded streets, gilded palaces, and dark corners of late-eighteenth-century Stockholm, offering a startling vision of the crimes we commit in the name of justice, and the sacrifices we make in order to survive Best Debut, The Swedish Academy of Crime Writers' Award 2017 The year is 1793, Stockholm. King Gustav of Sweden has been assassinated, years of foreign wars have emptied the treasuries, and the realm is governed by a self-interested elite, leaving its citizens to suffer. On the streets, malcontent and paranoia abound. A body is found in the city's swamp by a watchman, Mickel Cardell, and the case is handed over to investigator Cecil Winge, who is dying of consumption. Together, Winge and Cardell become embroiled in a brutal world of guttersnipes and thieves, mercenaries and madams, and one death will expose a city rotten with corruption beneath its powdered and painted veneer. The Wolf and the Watchman depicts the capacity for cruelty in the name of survival or greed - but also the capacity for love, friendship, and the desire for a better world. This book is dark, twisting, and, honestly, unputdownable. Set in 1793 Stockholm, where violence crackles in the air, several unlikely characters become entwined. After an ex-soldier and former night watchman finds a mutilated body in a lake, he feels compelled to provide a proper burial for it. He teams up with a brilliant lawyer and consulting detective in order to figure out the man’s identity. Meanwhile, a young woman forced into the workhouse by her priest has been marked by a sadistic guard as his next victim. Natt och Dag expertly weaves these characters together into a bone-chilling experience that you won’t be able to stop reading. When A Mutilated Corpse Is Discovered In A Local Swamp, Watchman Mikel Cardell And Lawyer Cecil Winge Comb The Underworld Of Eighteenth-century Stockholm To Unmask A Murderer Before A Young Workhouse Laborer Becomes The Next Victim. Niklas Natt Och Dag ; English Language Translation, Ebba Segerbeg. Originally Published In Swedish In 2017 As 1793--title Page Verso. Maps On Lining Papers. In English, Translated From The Swedish.