Mari Jungstedt's compelling series of novels featuring Inspector Anders Knutas continues to go from strength to strength with, The Dead of Summer , the fifth crime adventure set on the island of Gotland. Her trademark combination of rich characterisation, taut crime plots and the continuing unfolding drama of her series characters' lives add up to a mix that rivals Henning Mankell's Wallander series. The murder of a jogger on the beach at Faro is an opportunity for Anders Knutas' newly-appointed deputy, Karin Jacobsson, to prove her worth while her boss is on holiday. But when a second body is discovered, murdered in the same style, Jacobsson's investigations point to a horrifying conclusion.

The Killer's Art is a classic demonstration of just why Mari Jungstedt is held in such high esteem; in Tiina Nunally's adroit translation, the prose has a stripped-down, utterly functional quality that is perfectly at the service of the carefully orchestrated plot. Writers such as Henning Mankell may outsell Jungstedt in the UK, but - if there is any justice - she will not remain caviar to the general Barry Forshaw

Mari Jungstedt lives in Stockholm with her husband and two children. This is her fifth novel set on the island of Gotland.