Anxious People by Fredrik Backman is a bit of a study in behavior with a bit of a mystery. It’s set in Sweden and there’s a sort of running joke about people from Stockholm throughout the book. I guess maybe it would have been funnier if I were Swedish. 

The story begins with some general commentary on life. Eventually the author gets to the point that everything that follows was the result of one single really bad idea. A desperate parent tries to hold up a cashless bank, ends up taking hostages accidently, and well, everything just goes downhill from there. 

The hostages and police officers trying to negotiate their release each have their own backstory, some of which end up overlapping before all is said and done. The mystery is how this messy situation resolves itself (or doesn’t) and what it all has to do with the man on the bridge ten years previously. Anxious People by Fredrik Backman is a quirky, light read that I’m sure you’ll enjoy.