THE FORBIDDEN PLACE is a bit different from what we normally anticipate in Nordic noir offerings. Debut author Susanne Jansson is no stranger to the arts, having worked as a freelance photographer and journalist for over two decades in her native Sweden. While the book features elements of photography and science, it also uses a modern rustic setting in its description of a quest to enable justice and closure for those left behind following a tragedy.

A biologist named Nathalie is the catalyst behind the story. She has set up shop, if you will, in Mossmarken, a small village in the remote Swedish wetlands where she plans to do time studies involving the peat bogs. As she arrives at her destination, Nathalie keeps a secret close to her heart. She used to live in Mossmarken until she became the inadvertent victim of a terrible tragedy. No one recognizes her, at least initially, as she quietly goes about her business in a manner that is all but incognito and tentatively enters into a relationship with a college student named Johannes, who she encounters near her home.

"THE FORBIDDEN PLACE is a slow-boiling novel that combines elements of classic and modern mysteries with discussions of such disparate topics as quantum physics anomalies, ancient mysticism, legends and religion."

Johannes is soon assisting Nathalie with her data gathering in his spare time. This changes, though, when Johannes is attacked during one of his runs and left for dead, with his pockets filled with gold coins. The attack is eerie for a number of reasons, chief among them being its ritualization. The area has a history of sacrifice, with the lore embodied in the local culture. When the bog begins to give up other bodies, also laden with gold coins, it appears that a killer is active and may have been for several years.

Maya Linde, a photographer who has assisted the police at crime scenes in the past, is brought in to take photographs of the discoveries and uses her presence in the area to also work on a project involving its residents, some of whom may know much more than they are telling. Meanwhile, Johannes lays comatose in a nearby hospital, unable to reveal what he knows about the attack. But it is Nathalie who provides the nexus between the past and present, even as she comes to regret returning to her childhood home and the tragic memories that the dead bring to life.

THE FORBIDDEN PLACE is a slow-boiling novel that combines elements of classic and modern mysteries with discussions of such disparate topics as quantum physics anomalies, ancient mysticism, legends and religion. While there is certainly a mystery within these pages, the police investigation and procedure often take a backseat to philosophical considerations, even as the conclusion features a modern take on Agatha Christie’s “meeting room” whodunit disclosures.

Jansson (skillfully translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles) has given us a first work that sits solidly in the mystery genre but blurs the lines around its edges. Those who come for the investigative elements may find the New Age discussions slow going, but there is no denying that they, like everything talked about in THE FORBIDDEN PLACE, are ultimately thought-provoking.