She looks peaceful as she lies among the shrubs, dressed in a flowing white gown. Like an angel, fallen from heaven, resting upon hallowed ground. But the stillness that envelops her isn’t born of peace. It is the stillness of death.
Nearly a year has passed since the three brutal murders that shook the quiet village of Ormaryd. The villagers have slowly returned to their steady lives, but for police officer Alexander and his wife Sofia, the wounds have not yet fully healed. Though they have recovered physically, both remain tormented by painful memories of what happened, all while trying to build a stable home for their newborn daughter, Celine.
Sofia and Alexander’s worst fear is soon realized when a woman is found dead in a park in the nearby town, and neither of them can help but wonder if history is repeating itself. Though the coroner quickly rules the death an overdose, and Alexander’s colleagues insist he is just haunted by the traumatic events of the previous year, he is certain that the woman was murdered. Her body appears almost deliberately arranged, posed with care, like an angel – or perhaps a fairy, said to dance across the meadows and forests of old at dusk.
Meanwhile, Sofia, now on maternity leave, finds herself with plenty of spare time to ruminate on her own past. Her mother’s death has left her with more questions than answers, and her determination to find her biological father has nearly grown into an obsession. However, finding the answers she has sought for so long proves difficult, as the people of Ormaryd seem reluctant to speak to her. Refusing to give up, Sofia allows herself to be guided by intuition, cryptic warnings, and the quiet whispers of Småland’s woods, even though the truth may have been buried for a reason.
When another body is found, it becomes impossible to deny that darkness has returned to Ormaryd. This time it is clearly a murder: a man has been bound to a detached wagon wheel draped in linden leaves, drawing the investigation into age-old tales and mysticism. The arrangement of the bodies appears to be a message, alluding to the fairy who lures wanderers across moonlit fields, and the linden snake, said to bite off its own tail and roll through the countryside like a wheel, bringing destruction in its wake. With every new discovery, it begins to feel as if the killing spree of the previous summer never truly ended.
Has the killer returned? Is it a copycat? Or is it as some of the villagers whisper about, that Niflhel, the ancient goddess of the realm of the dead, has risen to claim what is owed? Whatever the truth may be, it seems as if evil is stirring again – an unseen rot seeping through the land.
Where the Dead Rest is an eerie suspense novel, in which folklore and faith unfold against the dark, foreboding woodlands of Småland, with gripping undertones of family and belonging. In this second installment of the Ormaryd Murders, Mons and Karolina Kallentoft once again deliver an utterly captivating story that draws the reader into a chilling universe where evil is never truly at rest.
