I was an avid reader of detective novels in high school, but I haven't tried this genre for quite a while. I decided to leave the classics aside and dive into unknown territories, those of the modern writers of detective fiction. My first try (apart from Stieg Larsson) was the Scandinavian Camilla Läckberg, who turned out to be a big disappointment. Another reason not to fall prey again to a good rating and a promising synopsis. If you brace yourself and read this book nonetheless, be ready for an epidemic of pregnant women, cups of coffee at every page and hour of the day, domestic scenes that are boring as hell - which I soon started to skip - and a detective investigation that is diluted and just as tasteless as a watery cocktail.
I was indecisive between Jo Nesbø, Boris Akunin and Camilla Läckberg and in the end I chose her - what a waste of time! I finished this 600 pages book in no time though, because I skipped more than half of it. For the most part, The Hidden Child is a bad quality soap opera, with a detective story that is shredded into tiny slices interspersed with boring accounts of domestic life. You could read this novel in the worst conditions imaginable and still keep track of the plot.
This kind of books, along with the Sandra Brown type and the most recent vampire literature, are - for me - an explanation for the fact that some people are still reading. I don't want to offend anyone, but I'm afraid that, if such easy-type novels would cease to exist, the number of readers would reduce drastically. Try to also read some novels that challenge your brain and teach you something. Don't make this kind of books your only connection to the literature world.