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3.32 AVERAGE
3.32 AVERAGE
The book was interesting enough, and I am ready to read more about Van Veteren. I was able to guess the solution–although not the exact identity of the murderer–well before the end, but the book kept my attention.
See my complete review here:
http://whatmeread.wordpress.com/tag/minds-eye/
See my complete review here:
http://whatmeread.wordpress.com/tag/minds-eye/
Excellent Swedish mystery. I did guess the killer before the end of the book but I didn't understand the motives or how the killer would be caught.
Dated, still enjoyable. Recommended for fans of Swedish detective fiction.
An interesting and entertaining read, particularly after bingeing Karin Fossum's Inspector Sejer series so recently - Inspector Van Veeteren is a different kettle of fish entirely, abrasive and aggressive in pursuit of the truth, and surrounded by a bunch of demoralized, sarcastic policemen who a lot of the time would really rather be doing something else.
Not my style of Nordic crime. I did not really get into the plot or the characters. The characters seems a little artificial to me, with many of the secondary characters remaining mere names (e.g. Van Veeteren's colleagues). The storyline had a lot of potential, but its development was disappointing and a approached in a bit of an oldfashioned way where the chief inspector gets the connections and concludes the case on his own, including without the engagement of the reader. I will not be going for more of this series.
Komplett omtale ligger her:
http://ebokhyllami.blogspot.no/2012/11/bokomtale-det-grovmaskede-nettet-av.html
http://ebokhyllami.blogspot.no/2012/11/bokomtale-det-grovmaskede-nettet-av.html
4*
I was on a cruise last year and sat with a Swedish couple for dinner one night. I mentioned that I liked to read mysteries and had read books by 2 Swedish authors, Henning Mankell and Stieg Larsson. He recommended that I read books by Hakan Nesser. I am pleased that I followed his recommendation.
This is book 1 in the series and I enjoyed it. It is a psychological mystery with Detective Chief Inspector Van Veeteren solving the mystery by deductive reasoning and following clues. There is very little violence.
Van Veeteren's thought process: "He interpreted the signals emitted by a suspect; sometimes he found it easy to do as reading a book, like a musician can pick out a tune from a mass of notes in a score, or a mathematics teacher can spot an inaccurate calculation."
This was a library book.
I was on a cruise last year and sat with a Swedish couple for dinner one night. I mentioned that I liked to read mysteries and had read books by 2 Swedish authors, Henning Mankell and Stieg Larsson. He recommended that I read books by Hakan Nesser. I am pleased that I followed his recommendation.
This is book 1 in the series and I enjoyed it. It is a psychological mystery with Detective Chief Inspector Van Veeteren solving the mystery by deductive reasoning and following clues. There is very little violence.
Van Veeteren's thought process: "He interpreted the signals emitted by a suspect; sometimes he found it easy to do as reading a book, like a musician can pick out a tune from a mass of notes in a score, or a mathematics teacher can spot an inaccurate calculation."
This was a library book.
Done! A fun, small thriller. The characters aren't as deep as I'd like, and the mystery had a few fun events, but it wasn't really anything special. But that could also be because I'm way more into science-fiction and fantasy than thrillers nowadays.
So glad that I read books two and then three in this series before this first one, because I am not sure I'd have kept going. Nesser definitely hits his stride in book two.
Maybe 2.5. The book itself was short (which is good). I found the inspector to be pretty obnoxious and unless I was missing something, I have no idea how he knew who it was. Though the officers involved seem to know it much before we the readers do, and the reason behind why the crime was committed is pretty decent and not obvious. I would probably read another one of these books if I couldn't get my hands on another "nordic noir".