Scan barcode
eebs's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
syyskuu's review against another edition
3.0
Ihan mukava kirja tuttujen hahmojen seurassa. Valitettavasti osasin ennakoida osan juonenkäänteistä turhan varhain ja osa tuntui hieman epäuskottavalta. Luettava, mutta en palaa teokseen uudelleen.
flying_monkey's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Over the course of novels 6 to 10 in this series, Maria Kallio grows as a character, and the themes also get more socially conscious and more politically pointed. In many ways, while Lehtolainen is still not a Scandi-noir author, she's clearly been influenced by the international success of the darker and more serious tone of fiction from other Scandanavian countries. However, she is also not a simple moralizer and she doesn't offer obvious ideologically-driven answers. The latest novel in particular, which deals with a number of cases involving young immigrant girls tries doesn't offer us a serial killer or even one kind of crime, rather each girl represents a different way in which immigration has changed Finnish society and impacted both Finns and immigrants alike. It isn't quite as satisfying as the author would like, but it's a valiant attempt at using crime fiction as constructive political dialogue, while also maintaining enough tension and mystery to make it readable within the conventions of the genre.
Kallio herself has changed too - we no longer get the mentions of her reading old British detection fiction - it's like she's finally become a real character who isn't just made of aspects of the author's interests. Kallio's progress through these novels is quite fascinating, although not always convincing. In Book 6, she's about to come back to the Espoo Violent Crime Unit from maternity leave and gets involved in a murky mystery involving the apparently accidental death of an environmentalist, who happens to be an ex-boyfriend (overlaps between cases and personal life continue to be a feature of these books, to the point where Finland starts to seem like a village rather than a country...). By the next book, she's the Commander of the VCU, and has to deal with the murder of a local councillor. In Book 8, it's the media and rally car racing in the spotlight with the murder of a sports journalist, but the reveal is something of a letdown and doesn't seem like anyone would really care enough about the great secret to actually kill anyone over it. Book 9 is where things start to get darker with Kallio having to deal with the sex trade, which ends up being so traumatic that she quits her job. So in Book 10, she's a researcher for the Minstry that controls the police but is forced back into policing but in a special role that brings her into conflict with her successor as Commander of the VCU and some of her former colleagues. This book is probably one of the worst of the series because everything seems a bit contrived. The most telling parts are really in the relationships we have with her family - her partner and, eventually, two children and two cats. I don't actually know of another good crime series that puts a woman raising a family at the heart of things and so carefully balances the domestic against the often traumatic realities of life as a specialist in violent crime.
Kallio herself has changed too - we no longer get the mentions of her reading old British detection fiction - it's like she's finally become a real character who isn't just made of aspects of the author's interests. Kallio's progress through these novels is quite fascinating, although not always convincing. In Book 6, she's about to come back to the Espoo Violent Crime Unit from maternity leave and gets involved in a murky mystery involving the apparently accidental death of an environmentalist, who happens to be an ex-boyfriend (overlaps between cases and personal life continue to be a feature of these books, to the point where Finland starts to seem like a village rather than a country...). By the next book, she's the Commander of the VCU, and has to deal with the murder of a local councillor. In Book 8, it's the media and rally car racing in the spotlight with the murder of a sports journalist, but the reveal is something of a letdown and doesn't seem like anyone would really care enough about the great secret to actually kill anyone over it. Book 9 is where things start to get darker with Kallio having to deal with the sex trade, which ends up being so traumatic that she quits her job. So in Book 10, she's a researcher for the Minstry that controls the police but is forced back into policing but in a special role that brings her into conflict with her successor as Commander of the VCU and some of her former colleagues. This book is probably one of the worst of the series because everything seems a bit contrived. The most telling parts are really in the relationships we have with her family - her partner and, eventually, two children and two cats. I don't actually know of another good crime series that puts a woman raising a family at the heart of things and so carefully balances the domestic against the often traumatic realities of life as a specialist in violent crime.
More...