The Shadow Lily

The end of August is drawing near when detectives Hanna Duncker and Erik Lindgren are called over to Öland to investigate the disappearance of 43 year-old real estate agent Thomas Ahlström. He had just begun his parental leave when his wife returned after a weekend away to find both her husband and toddler Hugo missing. Soon the whole island becomes involved in the case. Search parties of volunteers canvas the narrow island while Hanna and Erik dig through the victim’s background to find clues to why he’s gone missing. They soon learn that he had an estranged adult daughter from a previous relationship, who happens to have spent the summer on the island and recently tried to reconnect with her father. Could she be responsible for what has happened to her father and half-brother?

When Thomas Ahlström is found murdered inside a house that had recently been sold by the firm he was working for, not only do Hanna and Erik have a murder investigation on their hands, they must still find his son Hugo – and the clock is ticking. In the heat of the investigation, Hanna takes the first trembling steps into what could be a new romantic relationship. But she finds it hard to focus on her burgeoning feelings as long as Hugo is missing and a killer roams free. The pressure from the victim’s family, from the media, and from the public increases and Hanna, Erik, and their team are working around the clock to solve the case.

In a parallel storyline, Hanna’s rogue investigation into what happened to her father all those year ago has intensified. She soon realizes that her father may have tried to protect someone and she can only think of one person save herself he would do that for: her brother Kristoffer. Was he somehow involved in the horrible arson and murder for which her father was convicted? Reluctantly, she realizes she must reach out to her brother and confront him. But when she begins to dig further a number of unpleasant things happen to her, and she starts to feel like she has a target on her back. Someone doesn’t want her to find out the truth…

The Shadow Lily is the second book in Johanna Mo’s bestselling Island Murders Series about police detectives Hanna Duncker and Erik Lindgren. In this sequel to The Night Singer, relationships between the characters we’ve gotten to know and care for in the first book deepen, while Hanna’s present makes it hard for her to ignore the past, no matter how much she would like to. In yet another page-turning crime novel, Mo puts the spotlight on what lengths people are willing to go in order to protect their family.


JOHANNA MO is an author from Kalmar, Sweden. Her new crime series The Island Murders about police duo Hanna Duncker and Erik Lindgren has been sold in 17 territories. The first book, The Night Singer, was published in 2020 and became an instant bestseller. The sequel titled The Shadow Lily was published in June 2021.

Learn more about Johanna Mo