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A review by clair_82
The Exiled by Kati Hiekkapelto
4.0
The Exiled is actually book 3 in the Anna Fekete series however I didn’t this realise this when I started the book and it in no way affected my enjoyment of this instalment.
Anna is in the police force in Finland but is on holiday in her homeland of Kanizsa, in Serbia on the Hungarian border. Her relaxation is somewhat hampered when her bag is stolen whilst she’s enjoying a local wine festival with friends. The bag is then found on the shore of the Tisza river alongside the body of a young man with her passport and credit card missing, when the police don’t seem interested in investigating further, Anna takes the investigation into her own hands to find out what happened to the young man, the young woman who was with him when the bag was stolen and why the police are seemingly brushing it under the carpet.
The Exiled is much more than just a crime investigation, it also touches upon the difficult subject of the life and treatment of refugees, prejudice against other cultures and the associated stereotyping that accompanies these. Hiekkapelto handles these topical subjects with great knowledge and sensitivity.
The Exiled has been translated from Finnish by David Hackston and has been done extremely well that, other than some native-tongue words and phrases (which I felt were a great touch), it’s impossible to know that this wasn’t originally written in English.
I really enjoyed this book, the investigation, both into the crime and the treatment of refugees, and Hiekkapelto’s brilliant writing style. I will be going back and reading The Hummingbird and The Defenceless to find out more about Anna, I also look forward to more novels from Hiekkapelto.
Anna is in the police force in Finland but is on holiday in her homeland of Kanizsa, in Serbia on the Hungarian border. Her relaxation is somewhat hampered when her bag is stolen whilst she’s enjoying a local wine festival with friends. The bag is then found on the shore of the Tisza river alongside the body of a young man with her passport and credit card missing, when the police don’t seem interested in investigating further, Anna takes the investigation into her own hands to find out what happened to the young man, the young woman who was with him when the bag was stolen and why the police are seemingly brushing it under the carpet.
The Exiled is much more than just a crime investigation, it also touches upon the difficult subject of the life and treatment of refugees, prejudice against other cultures and the associated stereotyping that accompanies these. Hiekkapelto handles these topical subjects with great knowledge and sensitivity.
The Exiled has been translated from Finnish by David Hackston and has been done extremely well that, other than some native-tongue words and phrases (which I felt were a great touch), it’s impossible to know that this wasn’t originally written in English.
I really enjoyed this book, the investigation, both into the crime and the treatment of refugees, and Hiekkapelto’s brilliant writing style. I will be going back and reading The Hummingbird and The Defenceless to find out more about Anna, I also look forward to more novels from Hiekkapelto.