Publishers Weekly
04/28/2025
A true-crime obsessive joins an old friend’s bridal party with ulterior motives in this predictable thriller from Swedish suspense novelist Sten (The Resting Place). In 2012, four young women arrived on Isle Blind, a sliver of land in the Baltic Sea, for their annual get-together. They never returned home. Authorities concluded that the women died in a boating accident, but speculation about the “Nacka Four”—so named for their Swedish hometown—ran high among island residents and internet sleuths. Ten years later, Isle Blind is the site of a luxe new yoga resort complete with sunrise sessions and vegan catering. Tessa, a recently disgraced crime podcaster who has long been obsessed with the Nacka Four, is intrigued to be invited to the resort for her friend Anneliese’s bachelorette party. Though Tessa feels like “a fuckup” compared to Anneliese’s other bridesmaids, she accepts the invitation, hoping she might resurrect her career by cracking the case of the Nacka Four. Instead, more bodies pile up. Sten fashions a promising setup, but the narrative meanders on its way to an obvious yet overheated conclusion. This is nothing special. (June)
From the Publisher
Most Anticipated by Goodreads * The Nerd Daily * The New York Post
"Harrowing." —Kirkus Reviews
"A tense, creepy thriller that manages to be at once deeply unsettling and tremendously fun to read." —Chris Pavone, New York Times bestselling author of Two Nights in Lisbon
“This is Agatha Christie meets Scream. With humor as sharp as knives, Camilla Sten’s The Bachelorette Party is a propulsive dive into one woman’s last chance at redemption—and a killer’s last chance at revenge. Dark, twisty, and tense, this is Camilla Sten at her best.” —Melissa Larsen, author of Shutter
"Chilling fun—and at times simply chilling—The Bachelorette Party is a wild, wicked ride." —Kit Frick, author of I Killed Zoe Spanos and The Split
“An eerie and atmospheric thriller set on an isolated Swedish island. Downright chilling in places, with vibes of The Guest List and The Retreat! Perfect for fans of Sarah Pearse and Lucy Foley.” —Allie Reynolds, author of The Swell and Shiver
"A tension-filled nightmare...recommended for fans of Ruth Ware and Lucy Foley." —Library Journal
"Sten (The Resting Place) excels at building the creepy horror and chilling tension. Readers who like their thrillers bloody and gory will enjoy this dark Nordic take." —First Clue
Library Journal
04/11/2025
Sten once again creates a foreboding atmosphere (after The Resting Place), this time on a remote island off the coast of Sweden. Tessa Nilsson, a disgraced true crime podcaster, agrees to go with her sister Lena and four friends to a yoga-themed retreat on Blind Isle to celebrate their friend's upcoming wedding. Her real reason for going, however, is to try and uncover what happened to four women 10 years earlier who vanished after going to a small Swedish island for a girls' weekend. If she can find out if this is the same island, Tessa could salvage her career. When she discovers that the owner of the retreat is the younger sister of one of the women who disappeared, she wants to get to the bottom of what really happened all those years ago. After one of their group goes missing, with no visible means of escape, what should be a relaxing vacation turns into a tension-filled nightmare. The remaining friends start to question how well they really know one another. VERDICT Sten effectively uses flashbacks in this page-turner to keep up the suspense. Recommended for fans of Ruth Ware and Lucy Foley.—Jean King
Kirkus Reviews
2025-03-22
Sten’s first English-language thriller, following two novels translated from Swedish, takes a bride and her wedding attendants on a yoga-themed trip to a deserted island. Guess what happens.
Isle Blind, a scrap of land accessible only by boat, is home to Baltic Vinyasa, whose owner, Irene Sperling, is happy to welcome family therapist Anneliese and five of her buddies to the new mini-resort before it opens to the public. It would be the perfect venue if only four women hadn’t gone missing from the island 10 years ago under mysterious circumstances during their own annual get-together—and if Carl von Thurn, the husband of one of them, hadn’t vanished himself eight years later, leaving behind what sounds a lot like a suicide note. But there’s a silver lining to every cloud. Tessa Nilsson, one of Anneliese’s guests, hopes against hope that she can revive her career as a true-crime podcaster, which was tanked when an interview concerning another cold case ended up having a devastating impact by digging up more information about the earlier disappearance and taking it public. Her preliminary inquiries of Adam, Baltic Vinyasa’s chef, lead only to his warning not to bring the subject up to Irene, whose sister, Matilda, was one of the four women who vanished back in 2012. It’s only a matter of hours before the string of disappearances extends to the present, this time with an unmistakably violent edge. The events that follow are just as harrowing as in Sten’s two Swedish novels but a lot faster-paced.
A fairy tale for grown-ups that’s wildly implausible at every stage, and just plain wild.
