Exposed

[sawyl]

Another Swedish outing in the form of Liza Marklund's Exposed, sometimes known as Studio 69, the first — chronologically, at least — in Marklund's series of novels featuring the journalist Annika Bengtzon.

While manning the Evening Post cold calls line, summer temp Annika Bengtzon receives a tip that a dead body has been found in a Stockholm cemetery. Paired with more experienced journalist she starts working the story, interviewing local residents, tracing friends and family of the dead woman to try and get a feel for her life. After publishing a couple of successful pieces insinuating that the woman's boyfriend may be responsible, she comes crashing to earth when it is suggested that a government minister might have been murderer and that her stories are nothing more than a political attempt by the Social Democratic Party to deflect suspicion from their man.

What makes the book stand out is the authenticity of the Evening Post newsroom — populated with a mixture of dedicated journos, sexist editors, and unethical chancers — and the genuineness of Annika's character and her responses to working in such an unpleasant bear pit. (Although, post-NI phone hacking scandal, the techniques of the Scandinavian hacks seem far less outrageous than they might have done a year or two ago!) Despite being tough and talented and determined, Annika spends a lot of time crying in the office lavatories or so stressed out that she is in there being sick. Unlike many of the other journalists, she finds herself questioning the moral decisions she's required to make — should she play along with the hysterical orgy of grief the victim's old school friends seem to be indulging in? Occasionally, through a combination of inexperience and a desire to be kind, she finds herself making a serious error of judgement that has a significant impact on her life.

Highly recommended.