DEATH OF THE DEMON

TITLE: DEATH OF THE DEMON

AUTHOR: ANNE HOLT

Pages: 262

Date: 07/09/2013

Grade: 4

Details: no. 3 Hanne Wilhelmsen

           Received from Corvus

           Through Nudge

Own

Olav is a twelve year old boy with issues. He is very overweight - a fact emphasised by the fact that he’s built like a pear - and has had problems interacting with other people almost from the moment he was born. Because his mother was both unequal to the challenge he presented and unsuccessful in finding the assistance they so badly needed, Olav is being placed in an orphanage, under the care of child-services. From the moment Olav arrives, Agnes Vestavik, the orphanage’s director knows he is going to cause trouble. Olav doesn’t seem to be angry about his situation so much as hate it, and anybody associated with it.

When Agnes is found murdered at her desk late one evening, Olav has disappeared from the home without a trace. Hanne Wilhelmsen, recently promoted to superintendent in the Oslo police, is given the case, be it with only minimal manpower. Initially Hanne and her team are completely in the dark. There don’t appear to be any motives for this murder and it seems unlikely that the missing Olav killed the director. No matter how big, strong and angry the boy may be, nobody can quite see him as a twelve year old murderer.

As the investigation continues, motives for this crime seem to be popping up everywhere. It seems that most people connected with Agnes have a reason to lie to the police about their relationship with the woman. As suspects come and go, the chances that the crime will actually be solved seem to be getting smaller by the day. While Hanne Wilhelmsen is known for her almost infallible instincts when it comes to solving crime it seems that this is one case where they may let her down completely.

I love these mysteries. This is the fourth Hanne Wilhelmsen mystery I have read and each and every one of them has been a joy. Anne Holt plots a good mystery and presents it in such a way that the reader gets drawn into the story and the characters more with every page. She also strikes an almost perfect balance between the investigation and the private lives of the recurring characters in her books. With every book in this series we get to know Hanne Wilhelmsen a little bit better and see how she slowly learns to stop panicking about her relationship with Cecilie and her fear that others may find out about it.

It is more than just her private life keeping Hanne on her toes in this book though. Having only just been promoted to the more administrative than investigative position of superintendent, the investigator has a hard time finding the right balance between leading her team and being actively involved in the investigation.

I really liked the premise of this book. The obvious solution to the murder mystery in this story is so horrible that the reader can’t help being relieved when the evidence leads the investigators in different directions. The story strongly reminds me of an Agatha Christie mystery. There is a very limited cast of suspects, none of whom, initially at least, appear to have a clear motive for the murder. I liked the way in which the investigation slowly uncovered the various motives that did exist and the desperate and silly ways in which those close to Agnes tried to hide existing issues between them and the victim. Presented in this way, the investigation keeps the reader on their toes and never sure what to expect next.

Having said all of that, I have to admit that this was probably my least favourite Hanne Wilhelmsen mystery so far. I wasn’t too happy with the almost endless amounts of points of view I was presented with, especially since there were a few that, while interesting, didn’t seem to add a lot to the actual unravelling of the mystery. I also wasn’t entirely happy with the ending of this book, although I can’t say anything else about that without spoiling the story.

Despite those two reservations though, I have to say that it is a delight to read a well plotted mystery with properly developed characters and a story-line that provides more than just murder and mayhem. Anne Holt uses her mysteries to give her readers an insight into people and the society they live in without ever trying to get a certain message or agenda across. Her stories will make you think about more than just “who done it” and for that reason alone I will continue reading this series for as long as there are new titles available.

BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO THIRST

TITLE: BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO THIRST

AUTHOR: ANNE HOLT

Pages: 211

Date: 29/03/2013

Grade: 4.5

Details: no. 2 Hanne Wilhemsen

             Received from Corvus books

             Through Nudge

Own

It is May and Oslo finds itself in the middle of an unseasonal heat-wave when Detective Hanne Wilhelmsen finds herself facing a disturbing scene. The abandoned shed is covered in blood, too much of it to have come from one single victim. But of such a victim there is no sign. All that can be seen are the copious amounts of blood and an eight-digit number painted on the wall with some of the blood. It is a Saturday night. Exactly a week later, Hanne is facing a similar scene. The location may be different but all the other details are exactly the same; too much blood and a – different – eight-digit number on the wall. But without a victim, the police have no idea what exactly they are investigating here.

A week later, again on a Saturday, a young student is violently raped. Although she has seen her attacker and can picture him perfectly in her mind she is unable to provide the police with a clear description of the man. And with cases piling up, and rapes being almost impossible to prove and prosecute Hanne and her team are not making any progress in finding the muscular rapist.

Then a body is found. And a link is established between the bloody numbers, the foreign woman and asylum seekers without connections. Someone is targeting these lonely and defenceless women. And a woman just like those who have already been killed is living in the same building as the student who was raped and she has gone missing.

Meanwhile the student and her father, having lost patience with the police and their lack of progress, decide to take the investigation into their own hands. Suddenly everybody is facing a race against time as the hot weather at last breaks.

Anne Holt does not write cosy stories. What she does write is realistic, well plotted and thrilling mysteries. Her detectives work in the real world where there is not enough time in the day to give every case the attention it needs. Her investigators make mistakes and find themselves scrambling to make up for them. Her characters are far from perfect but all the more real and recognisable for it.

I like the way in which the story is presented to the reader. We’re given enough information to keep up with the investigators or even be ahead of them at times but not so much that it spoils the mystery. The thoughts and emotions of the characters all come across as real; the behaviour of the rape victim is completely plausible as are the feelings of powerlessness her father experiences. The frustration and fatigue the investigators experience as a result of lack of man power and a growing mountain of unsolved cases is probably more realistic than we would want to acknowledge. It all makes for a powerful and thought-provoking read.

I also like the way in which these stories are written. This book was easy to read and very hard to put down. I like the balance between the investigations and the private lives of the characters in these books. The story and the investigation in it progress at a steady pace, with the character’s private details adding to the story rather than distracting from it.

There are times when it is obvious that we are reading a translated work, but not in an irritating way. In fact, on occasion this gives us wonderful expressions such as:

“It was so early not even the devil had managed to put on his shoes.”

And that in turn gives us a real sense that we are in a ‘different’ country, with a different language.

As with most Scandinavian mysteries I’ve read, this book provides a social commentary as well as an investigation. In this case the issues dealt with are rape and asylum seekers and neither of these come out of the book smelling of roses. Unfortunately that won’t come as a surprise to any reader, whether they are from a Scandinavian country or anywhere else in the world. These issues, however, are presented as fact and neither preached about or excused.

Anne Holt has given her readers a short but thrilling mystery that will keep them engrossed and make them think; she is very good at what she does.

THE BLIND GODDESS

TITLE: THE BLIND GODDESS

AUTHOR: ANNE HOLT

Pages: 343

Date: 30/10/2012

Grade: 4.5

Details: no. 1 Hanne Wilhelmsen

            Received from Atlantic Books

            Through Good Reads

Own

Karen, a corporate lawyer, discovers a body while walking her dog. The man, who will be indentified as a drug dealer, has been battered to death. Hours later a young Dutch man is found wondering through the streets of Oslo, covered in blood. The Dutch student is taken into custody but refuses to speak and will only accept legal representation if it comes from the lawyer who found the body. When five days later a shady criminal lawyer is murdered the two crimes don’t seem to be related. But Detective Inspector Hanne Wilhelmsen suspects otherwise and her instincts are rarely wrong. When she discovers that the murdered lawyer had defended the murdered drug dealer she has been vindicated and now Hanne and her colleagues have a real case to investigate. But it is a case without any real leads and far more questions than answers. And when another drug dealer is killed while in prison, Hanne is attacked in work and the Dutch student scared into insanity it becomes apparent that the investigators are up against powerful forces. Forces that are willing to do almost anything to keep their network and motives secret.

This is my second encounter with a mystery by Anne Holt and I have to say I am impressed. Like “1222” this is a well plotted and very well written book. The mystery, which appears straightforward enough, gets more complicated as the story proceeds. The reader is given more then enough insight into what is going on to keep up with the investigators and at times has access to a bit more information than the characters in the book. Don’t let that fool you into thinking that you know what is going on though, nothing is as clear-cut as it might appear and the author has a few surprises in store for the reader.

I really appreciated how realistic this description of an investigation was. The reader gets completely swept up in how frustrating proper police procedure can be for the investigators. No shortcuts are taken in this book, coincidences and suspicions are not enough to warrant an arrest. The investigators have to dig and dig deeper in order to find the evidence they need to act against those they suspect. And evidence is hard to come by.

There is a very nice balance between the crimes, the investigation and the private lives of the various characters in this book. We learn enough about the characters to take an interest in them and their well-being while those details never interrupt the flow of the story or the unravelling of the mystery.

It is interesting to discover that Anne Holt is a former minister of justice in Norway. Reading this book with that knowledge in the back of your mind does make you wonder what exactly is going on at government level, how much is going on behind the scenes that we, the public, are never supposed to find out about.

It seems that I have managed to find myself another must read mystery author and I’m looking forward to reading the 6 titles between this one and 1222 and get the rest of Hanne’s story as well as the undoubtedly excellent mysteries. 

THE BOY IN THE SUITCASE

TITLE: THE BOY IN THE SUITCASE

AUTHOR: LENE KAABERBOL & AGNETE FRIIS

Pages: 313

Date: 11/04/2012

Grade: 4

Details: no. 1 Nina Borg

            Received from BookGeeks

Own

Nina Borg is a Red Cross nurse working in a refuge centre in Copenhagen where she tries to keep the vulnerable safe from those who would use and abuse them. A job that is often futile and frustrating, especially since Nina is in the habit of taking every case personally and getting involved with them on an emotional level.

She has just witnessed a young Ukrainian woman go back to her Danish fiancé who almost certainly abuses her, when she receives a call from her old friend Karin. Although contact with Karin has been limited for a few years now, Nina can’t say no when her friend asks her for a meeting because she needs help. When the two women meet Nina is given a token to a storage locker with the request to look after the contents of the locker. Karin is obviously deeply distressed and leaves Nina rather abruptly. Against her better judgment Nina picks up the token, goes to the locker and opens it only to find an old suitcase with a small, sleeping boy inside.

With no idea who the boy is, where he came from and who left him there Nina is at a loss to decide what to do. When a little later she makes eye-contact with a dangerous man looking very angry after finding nothing in that same locker, Nina knows she’s landed herself in a perilous situation, but still has no idea what that situation is.

Looking for answers Nina goes to find Karin, only to discover her brutally murdered. If she had any doubts before, Nina now knows for sure that both she and the little boy are in serious danger and decides to flee, leaving behind her husband and her own two children.

While Nina tries to stay ahead of the man who is hunting her and the boy, in Lithuania a desperate mother is trying to figure out what happened to Mikas, her young son, who was apparently taken by a couple while she was unconscious.

This is what I would call a literary thriller. While it has all the aspects a good thriller has – a mystery, scary villains, a vulnerable hero, violence and chases – the book also spends a lot of time inside the various characters giving the reader the opportunity to really get to understand them, their thought-processes and their motivation. And it manages to give the reader all this information without giving away too much too early in the story. As a result the reader only very gradually finds out exactly what is going on which is very gratifying and keeps them turning the pages.

How much a reader will enjoy this book will for a large part depend on how well they are able to buy into Nina Borg’s habit of throwing herself into other people’s causes while completely ignoring her own needs and those of her own family. While her way of dealing with the situation she found herself in made me want to shake her – I mean why didn’t she just go to the police with the little boy and why did she keep her husband in the dark- it may well ring true for others.

On the other hand, this is a very well written book. The pacing is almost perfect with descriptions and action alternating at exactly the right times.

Once again, as seems to be the case with most if not all of the Scandinavian thrillers I’ve been reading recently, there is a strong political context and message to this story which gives the book a bit more depth than most thrillers tend to have.