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jbrieu's review against another edition
not finished, hard to focus on it, good plot but too slow
freemti's review against another edition
3.0
good solid Van Veeteren fare albeit the first one which was funny because it felt like everyone was all ready defined. Did feel it needed some polish in parts and some better filling in on the details. I do plan to read all of the series.
tonikay's review against another edition
4.0
I am giving this book an extra 1/2 star (rounding up instead of down this time). I found the mystery interesting and the characters compelling enough that I would read more books in this series. I did not anticipate the ending which is always a good thing in a thriller/mystery.
arunv's review against another edition
4.0
Swedish crime novel with Van Veeteren as the intuitive inspector with an unbeatable grumpy attitude. I started with Nesser's first book in the series and the characters are well developed. The book is the right length and has the familiar ingredients of Nordic Noir books. Lot of deductions and connections but I admit it was a bit hard to keep track of the characters names - I had to rewind to trace back to recall some of them - thank you for the bookmark feature. All said, a fast paced book with a good ending. Will definitely read more VV books.
michaelmc's review against another edition
4.0
Another pretty good Nordic mystery writer, maybe not exactly a page turner but I did have to finish it. The protagonist, Chief Inspector Van Veeteren is an unglamorous middle aged detective who figures things out.
km0220's review against another edition
3.0
Very well-written novel. The build-up was great, characters were interesting, and the plot was definitely able to hold my attention. I would give it 4-stars but I sort of figured out the main part of the mystery about halfway through the book so I am taking off one start for being "predictable". :-) In the author's defense, this book was written a while ago and, for that time, the set up was probably pretty original. :-) Either way, I enjoyed this book and will continue reading the other ones in this series!
dennisfischman's review against another edition
3.0
This is one of the Scandinavian noir mysteries that I missed along the way, and that's too bad. It's well written, with a great blend of police procedural, psycho killer, and wryly humorous detective with his own philosophy. I don't entirely buy the philosophy, but it makes the character distinctive. I also figured out who the killer must be halfway through the book, but not his motive or his current identity. That was enough to intrigue me.
The reason I don't rate it more highly is that the book is terrible with women. The author seems to have a Madonna-Whore complex, like the killer himself. Our hero (whose first name, oddly, we never learn) meets a few women who are intelligent and attractive, and he treats them with respect, but they flit in and out of the plot. I hope book #2 does better than that. Many mysteries did, even in 1993.
The reason I don't rate it more highly is that the book is terrible with women. The author seems to have a Madonna-Whore complex, like the killer himself. Our hero (whose first name, oddly, we never learn) meets a few women who are intelligent and attractive, and he treats them with respect, but they flit in and out of the plot. I hope book #2 does better than that. Many mysteries did, even in 1993.
bratbud's review against another edition
3.0
Nie jestem pewien, czy zamysł autora był taki, ale to raczej zgrubny szkic powieści, w sumie - dość ciekawa forma
nikla88's review against another edition
4.0
This is the first time I read Nesser and I'm pretty sure I will read more of his books. It's a bit slow at the beginning but after the second murder things start getting faster and interesting.
I can see some similarities with other Sweden authors like Larsson and Lackberg.
I can see some similarities with other Sweden authors like Larsson and Lackberg.