Camilla Lackberg - Camilla Lackberg Crime Thrillers 1 and 2 - The Ice Princess, The Preacher

The Ice Princess The Ice Princess and The Preacher

Published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

This special edition 2011

Copyright © Camilla Läckberg 2011

English translation © Steven T. Murray 2008 and 2007

The Ice Princess Copyright © Camilla Lackberg 2004 Published by agreement with Bengt Nordin Agency, Sweden English translation © Steven T. Murray 2007 Fjällbacka map by Andrew Ashton © HarperCollins 2008

The Preacher Copyright © Camilla Läckberg 2004 Published by agreement with Bengt Nordin Agency, Sweden English translation © Steven T. Murray 2008

Camilla Läckberg asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Ebook Edition MARCH 2011 ISBN: 9780007435746

Version: 2017-08-23

Title Page Camilla Läckberg The Ice Princess The Ice Princess and The Preacher

Copyright Copyright Contents Title Page Copyright Published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk This special edition 2011 Copyright © Camilla Läckberg 2011 English translation © Steven T. Murray 2008 and 2007 The Ice Princess Copyright © Camilla Lackberg 2004 Published by agreement with Bengt Nordin Agency, Sweden English translation © Steven T. Murray 2007 Fjällbacka map by Andrew Ashton © HarperCollins 2008 The Preacher Copyright © Camilla Läckberg 2004 Published by agreement with Bengt Nordin Agency, Sweden English translation © Steven T. Murray 2008 Camilla Läckberg asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Ebook Edition MARCH 2011 ISBN: 9780007435746 Version: 2017-08-23

Title Page The Ice Princess CAMILLA LÄCKBERG Translated from the Swedish by Steven T. Murray

Dedication Dedication For Wille

Map Map

1 1 The house was desolate and empty. The cold penetrated into every corner. A thin sheet of ice had formed in the bathtub. She had begun to take on a slightly bluish tinge . He thought she looked like a princess lying there. An ice princess . The floor he was sitting on was ice cold, but the chill didn’t bother him. He reached out his hand and touched her . The blood on her wrists had congealed long ago . His love for her had never been stronger. He caressed her arm, as if he were caressing the soul that had now left her body . He didn’t look back when he left. It was not ‘good-bye’, it was ‘until we meet again ’. : Eilert Berg Was Not A Happy Man

2: Awakened From A Deep And Dreamless Sleep

3: Nelly Had Sounded A Bit Surprised When Erica Called

4: She Was Tired

5: The Telephone Woke Her

6: He Had Never Managed To Shake Off The Habit Of Getting Up Early

Title Page

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two: Summer 1979

Chapter Three: Summer 1979

Chapter Four: Summer 1979

Chapter Five: Summer 1979

Chapter Six: Summer 1979

Chapter Seven: Summer 1979

Chapter Eight: Summer 1979

Chapter Nine: Summer 1979

Chapter Ten: Summer 1979

Chapter Eleven: Summer 2003

Chapter Twelve: Summer 2003

Chapter Thirteen: August 1979

Acknowledgements

About the Author

About the Publisher

The Ice Princess

The Ice Princess

CAMILLA LÄCKBERG

Translated from the Swedish by

Steven T. Murray

For Wille

1

The house was desolate and empty. The cold penetrated into every corner. A thin sheet of ice had formed in the bathtub. She had begun to take on a slightly bluish tinge .

He thought she looked like a princess lying there. An ice princess .

The floor he was sitting on was ice cold, but the chill didn’t bother him. He reached out his hand and touched her .

The blood on her wrists had congealed long ago .

His love for her had never been stronger. He caressed her arm, as if he were caressing the soul that had now left her body .

He didn’t look back when he left. It was not ‘good-bye’, it was ‘until we meet again ’.

Eilert Berg was not a happy man.His breathing was strained and his breath came out of his mouth in little white puffs, but his health was not what he considered his biggest problem.

Svea had been so gorgeous in her youth, and he had hardly been able to stand the wait before he could get her into the bridal bed. She had seemed tender, affectionate, and a bit shy. Her true nature had come out after a period of youthful lust that was far too brief. She had put her foot down and kept him on a tight leash for close to fifty years. But Eilert had a secret. For the first time, he saw an opportunity for a little freedom in the autumn of his years and he did not intend to squander it.

He had toiled hard as a fisherman all his life, and the income had been just enough to provide for Svea and the children. After he retired they had only their meagre pensions to live on. With no money in his pocket there was no chance of starting his life over somewhere else, alone. Now this opportunity had appeared like a gift from above, and it was laughably easy besides. But if someone wanted to pay him a shameless amount of money for a few hours’ work each week, that wasn’t his problem. He wasn’t about to complain. The banknotes in the wooden box behind the compost heap had piled up impressively in only a year, and soon he would have enough to be able to move to warmer climes.