This, the fifth instalment in the series, opens with a woman opening a package; it contains a book signed by the author, Andreas Hallman, she searches through it as though she expects to find something between the pages then goes out and drowns herself in a lake. After the credits we see Puck getting a job with the same Andreas Hallman. It quickly becomes apparent that he is a bit tyrannical, expecting everything to be done exactly as he wants it. After his daughter in laws birthday party his sickly eldest son is found dying buy Puck; his last word is 'murder'! Puck tells the family doctor but he is sure he must have said 'mother', not satisfied with this explanation she phones her husband and soon Christer is on the scene asking questions. With nobody wanting to exhume the body it looks as if there won't be much of a case; that is until there is another death!
This is the first instalment not to feature Puck, Eje and Christer for most of the story; in fact Eje barely features at all and Christer doesn't turn up for quite a while. This leaves Puck alone with the somewhat creepy Hallman family. This adds to the sense of danger; more than once it looks as though Puck might come to some harm. Once the two murders have been committed everybody in the house except Puck is a suspect; they all have motives and all seem unhinged enough to do it; not surprising given how they were treated by the 'great' author. In classic whodunit style the suspects are gathered; the crime explained and suspects taken away by the police; that doesn't mean the story is over though as is case is even more complicated than it first appeared. As in previous episodes the cast, both regular and guest, do a fine job and the isolated, wintry setting creates a great atmosphere... to my mind this is the best story in the series so far.
This is the first instalment not to feature Puck, Eje and Christer for most of the story; in fact Eje barely features at all and Christer doesn't turn up for quite a while. This leaves Puck alone with the somewhat creepy Hallman family. This adds to the sense of danger; more than once it looks as though Puck might come to some harm. Once the two murders have been committed everybody in the house except Puck is a suspect; they all have motives and all seem unhinged enough to do it; not surprising given how they were treated by the 'great' author. In classic whodunit style the suspects are gathered; the crime explained and suspects taken away by the police; that doesn't mean the story is over though as is case is even more complicated than it first appeared. As in previous episodes the cast, both regular and guest, do a fine job and the isolated, wintry setting creates a great atmosphere... to my mind this is the best story in the series so far.
