The Hidden Child

The fifth book in the Det. Patrik Hedström series (The Stranger) finds Patrik starting his paternity leave so his wife, crime writer Erica Falck, can work on her new book. However, when a retired history teacher is murdered near their home, Patrik finds it impossible to stay away from the investigation. Erica is stunned to discover that the victim, Erik Frankel, was a man she had visited months earlier when she found a Nazi medal among her late mother's possessions. Erik was among her mother's close circle of friends during World War II, and Erica had hoped that digging into her mother's past would help explain why she was always so emotionally distant. But after two more members of this circle die, Erica and Patrik realize that her mother's wartime diaries may be the key to solving the murders and giving Erica peace of mind.