Hope and Destiny - by Niklas Natt Och Dag (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The author of the "thrilling, unnerving, clever, and beautiful" (Fredrik Backman) Wolf and the Watchman series presents a new historical series that takes us to medieval Sweden to unravel one of the country's most infamous murder mysteries.

1434: The Kalmar Union is cracking at its seams as a rebellion, led by miner Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson, erupts in the north. Sent by his status-seeking family, young Måns Bengtsson must win Engelbrekt's trust no matter the cost. Back at his family's castle, his mother, father, and sister wait for news of his success. One is lost in longing, another forges plans for the throne and crown, and one might finally have the opportunity to rise from her brother's shadow.

As the fifteenth-generation grandson of Måns Bengtsson, Niklas Natt och Dag expertly delves into his own family history to reveal a chilling and compulsively readable mystery.

Review Quotes

Praise for the works of Niklas Natt och Dag

"Mysteries don't come much rawer than Natt och Dag's gut-wrenching and moving page-turner, his second featuring Stockholm watchman Jean Michael Cardell (after 2019's The Wolf and the Watchman)...Natt och Dag expertly combines fully realized, flawed characters with vivid period detail. This tale of the cruelties that people are capable of inflicting on each other will leave few readers unshaken."-- "Publisher's Weekly (starred review)"

"The Alienist set in eighteenth-century Stockholm: Brawny, bloody, intricate, enthralling--and the best historical thriller I've read in twenty years."--A.J. Finn, #1 bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

"A tantalizing mystery, a foreboding, claustrophobic sense of place and a pair of unforgettable investigators."-- "Newsday"

"For Stieg Larsson fans, a new voice...a stunning debut...Like Umberto Eco's novel [The Name of the Rose, this] is a cerebral, immersive page-turner [with] a moral heft reminiscent of works by Graham Greene...Plenty of twists to satisfy thrill-starved readers." -- "The Washington Post"

"In his debut novel, Natt och Dag examines the effects of a brutal murder on those who investigate it--and explores the psychological causes for the crime...Chilling and thought-provoking. Relentless, well-written, and nearly impossible to put down." -- "Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"

"Niklas Natt och Dag takes the contemporary Scandinavian crime story and gives it a startlingly gruesome historical twist" -- "Guardian"

"Reads like a season of 'True Detective'...anchored by a powerful sense of place and a memorable cast of characters...you won't soon forget it."-- "USA Today"

"Thrilling, unnerving, clever, and beautiful."--Fredrik Backman, international bestselling author

"What's better than an ornate period piece with style to spare? One that includes a murder mystery. Oh, and boy is it a riveting mystery...A bit of Patrick Süskind's Perfume and a bit of Sherlock Holmes, this wolf has some bite to it."-- "NPR"

About the Author

Niklas Natt och Dag ("Night and Day") is a member of the oldest surviving noble family in Sweden. The Wolf and the Watchman: 1793, his first novel, was named the Best Debut of 2017 by the Swedish Academy of Crime Writers. It and the second book in the trilogy, The City Between the Bridges: 1794, are being published in thirty countries. He lives in Stockholm, Sweden, with his wife and their two sons.