The Gallows Bird

Author	Camilla Läckberg
Translator	Steven T. Murray
Language	English
Subject	Popular Fiction-Contemporary Thrillers
Genre	Crime
Publisher	Harpercollins
Publication date	2006
Published in English	March 2011
Pages	378 pages
ISBN
Preceded by	The Stone Cutter
Followed by	Flavours from Fjällbacka

The Gallows Bird (Swedish: Olycksfågeln) is a 2006 novel by Camilla Läckberg, translated by Steven T. Murray in 2011. It is the fourth psychological thriller written by Läckberg.

Patrik (police officer) and Erica (writer) have reconnected, had a child and are moving headlong into matrimony. Problems sidelined when a chaotic alcohol-fuelled party ends with the death of an unpopular contestant on a reality TV show. A woman is found dead, apparently the victim of a car crash: the first in a spate of seemingly inexplicable accidents in Tanumshede. The car reeks of alcohol and the assumption is that it is a drink drive accident. It becomes clear there's a serial assassin in the vicinity. As cameras shadow the stars' every move, relations with the locals are strained to breaking point. A piece of evidence reveals that a pair of seemingly disparate homicides are linked, a pattern emerges of similar homicides spread over many years- in different regions of Sweden; slowly Patrick realises that these cases are more closely linked than he realises. Patrick also has his own ephemera to contend with: a wedding to arrange, and Erica′s sister Anna—he′s experiencing stress.