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3.32 AVERAGE
3.32 AVERAGE
First book I've read in this series. Intriguing start in that the first third of the book is about the alleged perpetrator and the principal character for whom the series is named hardly plays a role at all. I'll be reading more from Nesser and adding him to my Swedish mystery shelf with Mankell and Eriksson. You surmise early on who the bad guy is but Nesser writes well and wraps you up in ride to the end with his introspective musings by the characters. Why is it that every police officer has a troubled personal life? Wallender, Rebus, etc... Guess that's what makes them so real. No shining knights but real men with flaws doing their jobs. Unlike Mankell and Eriksson no women police characters in this one.
dark
tense
fast-paced
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A first detective novel with a first detective novel feel -- the scenario a bit superheated, the detective still working to grow out of a few idiosyncrasies into a real person. I enjoyed the bits from the point-of-view of the minor characters. As usual for me, I disliked our excursions into the killer's point-of-view, and think the novel would be more entertaining if they were simply removed.
Neither entertaining nor satisfying. The story's timeline is difficult to follow, especially at the beginning, and the decision to keep the inspector's insights from the other characters AND from the reader gives the impression that the author overestimates his own cleverness. The revelation of the perpetrator somehow manages to be both outrageous and predictable.
audiobook note: Narrator Simon Vance is the sole saving grace.
audiobook note: Narrator Simon Vance is the sole saving grace.
A lowbrow mystery really only needs to satisfy two things: have characters you care about and a storyline that is mysterious. Unfortunately, this one fails both, and its distracting use of exclamation points compounds the problem!
This Scandi noir might not have the most electrifying murder case you have ever read (although it doesn't disappoint either), but it does have a huge selling point. Inspector Van Veeteren and his sarcastic universe. Nesser excels at creating noteworthy characters with V.V. obviously being his main attraction. Not the nicest guy on the planet, on the contrary, but nice guys don't catch bad guys. Loved his interrogation style. His specialty. Can't wait to dive deeper into his world.
Scandinavian detective novels are popular these days, and this series deserves to be better known. Well-written and tightly paced.
adventurous
relaxing
MMD 2020 Reading Challenge - a book in translation
A literary police procedural that makes me wish I could read it in the language it was written in. It's a dark one though with a lot of potential triggers.
A literary police procedural that makes me wish I could read it in the language it was written in. It's a dark one though with a lot of potential triggers.