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pam2375's review against another edition
4.0
Snow Angels is the first of a series of books that I will definitely be sticking with. It is the story of a Finnish Police Inspector, Kari Vaara, who solves the myteries that happen in his town. Well, that is what happened in the first book, anyway.
Inspector Vaara solves the murder of Sufia Elmi, an actress/model from Somolia. The murder was a bit gruesome and some of the details may turn some folks off, but I did not find it offensive. The author, James Thompson weaves you through this story and the town that it is set in with great ease. I liked the character development, as well as the characters and felt like I am getting to know them all very well in preparation for the upcoming books. I have already purchased book #2, [b:Lucifer's Tears|8854839|Lucifer's Tears (Inspector Kari Vaara, #2)|James Thompson|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Mk%2BPHN3VL._SL75_.jpg|13729960] and will be getting to that soon. (I need to thaw out from the cold, first)
I don't know how long the series can continue if this same number of murders continues in each book. I loved the part of the book where Inspector Vaara's wife, Kate recaps the case. She goes through and names all the players and tries to recreate a timeline etc...I found it to be very helpful and there was some humor added in.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in murder/mystery. My only minor critism of this book was that there seemed to be a lot of murders/death in this small town.
Inspector Vaara solves the murder of Sufia Elmi, an actress/model from Somolia. The murder was a bit gruesome and some of the details may turn some folks off, but I did not find it offensive. The author, James Thompson weaves you through this story and the town that it is set in with great ease. I liked the character development, as well as the characters and felt like I am getting to know them all very well in preparation for the upcoming books. I have already purchased book #2, [b:Lucifer's Tears|8854839|Lucifer's Tears (Inspector Kari Vaara, #2)|James Thompson|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Mk%2BPHN3VL._SL75_.jpg|13729960] and will be getting to that soon. (I need to thaw out from the cold, first)
I don't know how long the series can continue if this same number of murders continues in each book. I loved the part of the book where Inspector Vaara's wife, Kate recaps the case. She goes through and names all the players and tries to recreate a timeline etc...I found it to be very helpful and there was some humor added in.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in murder/mystery. My only minor critism of this book was that there seemed to be a lot of murders/death in this small town.
sevenacross's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed learning about the northern Finnish culture during kaamos, two weeks of darkness in Lapland.
karinlib's review against another edition
3.0
Good Nordic noir: Murder, drunkedness, sexual deviance, all set within the arctic circle.
oviedorose's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
4.0
hldonavant's review against another edition
5.0
Decent. A bit vulgar. Had it figured out before the end which is frustrating.
ridgewaygirl's review against another edition
2.0
Snow Angels is a dark mystery/thriller written by an American but set in a small skiing town a hundred miles north of the Arctic circle in Finland during the cold winter darkness. Kari Vaara is in charge of a small police station when the mutilated body of a Somali film actress is found on a reindeer farm in his jurisdiction. Suspicion quickly falls on her Finnish lover who, coincidentally, is also the man his ex-wife left him for some thirteen years earlier.
Thompson has lived in Finland and describes the land and culture with an outsider's eye, which is to say, he is attuned to what is unusual and noteworthy. He uses Vaara's wife, an American, to voice criticism of Finnish culture, a touch that felt very real to me. Unfortunately, Vaara himself sounded American in places, Finnish in others. That quibble aside, this book has a wealth of details about life in Finland, from offshoot religious groups to the importance of alcohol in daily life.
That said, the mystery itself defied reason. It had its moments, but didn't hold together, especially the unbelievable ending. This was clearly a debut novel, but Thompson shows signs of being able to develop an interesting series, he just isn't there yet.
Thompson has lived in Finland and describes the land and culture with an outsider's eye, which is to say, he is attuned to what is unusual and noteworthy. He uses Vaara's wife, an American, to voice criticism of Finnish culture, a touch that felt very real to me. Unfortunately, Vaara himself sounded American in places, Finnish in others. That quibble aside, this book has a wealth of details about life in Finland, from offshoot religious groups to the importance of alcohol in daily life.
That said, the mystery itself defied reason. It had its moments, but didn't hold together, especially the unbelievable ending. This was clearly a debut novel, but Thompson shows signs of being able to develop an interesting series, he just isn't there yet.
nina_rod's review against another edition
4.0
Loved this book. It's a great crime novel set in Northern Finland. It's not rich in a sense like "The Dragon Tattoo" books are. It's just a straight forward crime novel with bits of "Finland for dummies" trivia thrown in, which I do appreciate. I hear the Finnish version of the novel forgo those descriptions. I also just love the main character, Kari Vaara, a Finnish cop, mostly because of his adorable American wife, Kate. I'm looking forward to the author's second book in the series, "Lucifer's Tears."
kellerko's review against another edition
3.0
A Fiinish murder mystery. Far too brutal for me, so much loss from so many different people - absolutely senseless.
sandin954's review against another edition
3.0
Nominated for both the Edgar and Anthony for best first mystery this book had a story line as dark and bleak as its setting, the Lapland area in Finland during the run up to Christmas when there is no real daylight. The plot was a somewhat over done and the crime scene descriptions a bit too gruesome but the characters and the insights into Finnish culture made this well worth my reading time.