Reviews with content warning for Racism - The Chestnut Man

CW: blood & gore; some ableist language; mentions of rape (as fantasy); mentions of racist & misogynist views

A mystery/thriller at its best! The cast of characters were far from perfect, but they were compelling, pushing the storyline at a steady speed, perfectly absorbing. I thought that having told through various perspectives, Sveistrup added depth to the element of mystery by leaving the readers guessing whether the truth/observation was sound or biased in some ways. There were also scenes that have left me with goosebumps; the atmospheric writing built up the suspence, an eerieness brought about by the knowledge that someone or something evil was at present. I just loved the balance of intellectual deduction involving the case with the evocative, blockbuster-like descriptions involving the atmosphere.

The book also highlighted some systemic issues & individual flaws without trying to solve, or overcomplicate them. But the almost matter-of-fact way they were imbued into the plot added a touch of realness to me.

I'd love to read more of Sveistrup's work! Would love to see more of Thulin & Hess, if possible. Regardless, definitely a must read for any fan of a good old detective story!

Content Warnings

thegr8estangell's review

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

It’s a pretty good mystery novel. Hunting a serial killer who leaves a creepy AF calling card. I liked the book, but I would have probably liked it more if I understood more about the European style of policing. Some of that didn’t make sense to me. Also, I’m not sure if the author just hated minorities or if that’s just how people from denmark talk about Muslims who live there? Seems a little racist to me. Overall a fairly gripping story.

Content Warnings

unread_shelves's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

It took a about 100-150 pages for me to start to feel invested and not want to put this book down. Honestly, this could be the product of police procedural type of books not really doing it for me anymore (but we don’t have to get into that here).

However, the more the plot thickens and we weren’t provided very many obvious clues, the more invested and intrigued I become. I flew through the second half of this book. And I’m proud to say my guess was wrong and that I did not see this coming. When I’ve been guessing many endings, this was a refreshing twist for me.

That being said, this book is only receiving 3.5 stars from me. This book was FILLED with misogyny, sexism, racism, child abuse, pedophilia. The murders and kidnapping (jacket copy) were the least disturbing elements. Because of these elements, I was unable to feel comfortable with a higher rating.

Content Warnings

More...