Call Me Princess By Sara Blaedel

If you are into online dating, Call Me Princess by Danish writer Sara Blaedel may make you think twice about going out with someone you befriend online. This novel sheds light on two alarming issues of our times: online dating and sexual assaults against women. Blaedel has carved a name for herself as one of the brightest stars in the new wave of Scandinavian crime novelists that has riveted the attention of readers around the world.

A young woman in Copenhagen, Susanne Hansson, is found bound and gagged after an unusually brutal rape attack in her own home. Detective inspector Louise Rick is assigned to the case. With some gentle coaxing, Rick finds out that Susanne has met her attacker through online dating, a fact that Susanne shamefully tries to hide, especially from her domineering mother. But the deeply traumatised Susanne is unable to provide a detailed description of the rapist and the trail appears go cold straight away. Things take a negative turn when Susanne tries to commit suicide.

The perpetrator strikes again but this time the victim ends up dead. As the two parallel cases begin to unfold the investigators soon find out that both of the women met their attackers in some internet dating websites.

Fearing the assailant is trolling the internet for his next target Rick digs into the online dating world, a world she needs to infiltrate in order to solve the cases. She comes across the web site ‘nightwatch.dk,’ which allows people to upload images that show them out in the night-time scene and who they are with. Creating a profile with the online name of Princess, she hopes to lure the rapist and solve the crimes.

I find Call Me Princess quite a riveting read though it is a bit slow moving at times. It has its fair share of fans and critics. If I were to compare it to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larrson, I can only say that The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is of a different league.