The Bomber

A bomb destroys Stockholm’s newly built Olympic stadium just months before the Summer Games are set to open. The remains of the celebrated Olympic Committee chairwoman, Christina Furhage, are found in the wreckage. Crime reporter Annika Bengtzon, working the night shift at the tabloid Kvällspressen, is first on the scene and turns it into the biggest story of her career, while the police investigation circles closer to people no one wants to suspect.

Why Start Here

The Bomber is the book that made Liza Marklund a household name in Sweden, selling half a million copies and winning wide critical acclaim. It introduces Annika Bengtzon at her most essential: ambitious, stubborn, brilliant at her job, and constantly navigating a workplace where male colleagues undermine her at every turn.

What makes the novel distinctive is its perspective. You are not following a detective. You are following a journalist, which means you experience the investigation through the filter of deadlines, editorial pressure, source protection, and the ethical compromises that come with covering violent crime for a tabloid. Marklund, who worked at Expressen and served as editor-in-chief of Metro, writes this world with an insider’s authority.

The mystery itself is tightly constructed. The bombing is not random, and the victim is not who she appeared to be. The novel peels back layers of public image to reveal private corruption, a theme Marklund returns to throughout the series.

What to Expect

A fast-paced thriller with a strong procedural backbone. The newsroom scenes are as tense as the investigation. Marklund writes in short, punchy chapters that alternate between Annika’s reporting, the police investigation, and the bomber’s perspective. The pacing is relentless once it gets moving. Expect a protagonist who is competent and flawed in equal measure, a satisfying whodunit, and a sharp critique of how power operates in Swedish institutions.