Bright Summaries - The Gallows Bird by Camilla Läckberg (Book Analysis): Detailed Summary, Analysis and Reading Guide

A man, whose identity is not revealed, muses on some childhood memories. He loved his tender, caring mother unconditionally. She called him the gallows bird, and would prevent him and his sister from leaving the house. Although she made them feel safe, both children had a certain taste for freedom and a desire to discover the outside world. However, when they expressed this desire, their mother lost her temper.

He then describes the incestuous relationship he began with his sister, and remembers feelings from an even earlier time: the presence of another woman, cold and firm, and the smell of the ocean associated with her. Their mother would often read them Hansel and Gretel (a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm). One day, she relented to their wish to go out and took them for a drive in the car. She was unaware of it at the time, but the events of that day would trigger a series of murders, many years later, which would upend the peaceful lives of the inhabitants of the small town of Tanumshede, not far from Fjllbacka.

It is spring, and the members of the Tanumshede police force Patrik Hedstrm, Martin Molin, Annika and Bertil Mellberg welcome a young, ambitious new investigator, Hanna Kruse, to their ranks. She wins everyone over immediately. Hanna Kruse has just moved to Tanumshede with Lars, her husband, a psychologist who has been hired to work with the contestants of the reality TV game show Sodding Tanum, which is about to start shooting in the town. They love each other deeply, but a secret hangs between them: Lars doesnt want to talk about it, which weighs heavily on Hanna.

Elsewhere, the town councillor for Tanumshede, Erling W. Larson, welcomes the TV crew: the producer, Fredrik Rehn, and the contestants, including Lillemor Persson, nicknamed Barbie, Jonna, Uffe, Calle, Tina and Mehmet.

The police force arrives at the scene of a fatal car accident: the victim, Marit Kaspersen, is a shop-keeper who is well-known in the surrounding areas. Patrik Hedstrm initially believes it to be an accident, as the victim appears to have been drunk. However, upon discovering bruising in her mouth, traces of adhesive tape on her face, and chafing from restraints on her wrists and ankles, he realises that she was murdered. Along with Martin, his friend and colleague, he visits Kerstin, Marits partner. He discovers that the two had argued the night before, as Marit did not want to make their relationship public. They also learn that the victim never drank alcohol, which rules out drunk driving as the cause of the accident. When he visits Marits ex-husband, Ola, and his daughter Sofie, Patrik discovers that Ola, who was taking his wifes gay affair very badly, had been sending threatening letters to Kerstin and Marit.

Meanwhile, Erica Falck, Patriks partner, is at home taking care of their daughter, Maja, and her niece and nephew, Emma and Adrian, all while preparing for her wedding, which is six weeks away. Her sister, Anna, has killed her husband, who was abusing her. Traumatised, she is living in a state of lethargy with Erica, who has taken her in. Worried by her sisters condition, Erica asks her best friend and former lover, Dan, to try to talk to her, and an intense relationship blooms between Dan and Anna.

Erling W. Larson and Fredrik Rehn share a common goal: to attract the largest possible audience. In fact, Erling is relying on the show to advertise his little town. The producer reveals the means used to ensure the games success: plying the contestants with alcohol. As such, they work in Tanumshede businesses by day and party by night.

A dance evening is organised for the game show contestants and the towns young people. Martin and Hanna attend to ensure that the event goes without a hitch, but there are violent altercations between Barbie and the other contestants. The programmes video recordings reveal what happened: the young woman is berated by her fellow contestants for revealing private information about them. She denies it, but the others start to get rough with her, so Barbie flees towards the town centre, alone. Two days later, Leif, a refuse collector, finds a womans body in a skip; Patrik and Martin arrive on the scene and identify Barbie, who has been strangled.

The media quickly latch onto the situation, and the police focus on Barbies murder. The coroner discovers scratches on the victims arms and a tuft of fur from a very rare breed of dog in her hand. Patrik therefore questions Jonna, who admits to having cut Barbies arms, but denies killing her. Meanwhile, Annika tries to compile a list of individuals who own dogs that the tuft of fur found in the young victims hand could have come from.

While looking through the photos of Marits murder case, Patrik follows a hunch and goes to the archives, where he finds the case file of an unsolved murder which took place in Bors. A young man, Rasmus Olsson, was found dead in his home, seemingly after imbibing too much alcohol; however, like Marit, he never drank. Markings were observed around his mouth, similar to those around Marits mouth. But crucially, Patrik discovers a new clue: a page torn out of the story of Hansel and Gretel was found beside the bodies of both Marit and Rasmus. Patrik deduces it to be the work of a serial killer.