03 September 2019

Today's Read: The Chestnut Man by Soren Sveistrup

Review of The Chestnut Man by Soren SveistrupImagine you're a police detective in Copenhagen with bigger ambitions than your current job in the major crimes division. Now imagine you've been partnered with a man you don't like to solve a high-profile serial killing spree involving the mutilation and murder of woman and with possible ties to a government official.

Here's how detective Naia Thulin's story starts.

Red and yellow leaves drift down through the sunlight onto the wet asphalt, which cuts through the woods like a dark and glassy river. As the white squad car tears past, they're spun briefly in the air before coming to rest in sticky clumps along the edge of the road. Marius Larsen takes his foot off the accelerator and eases up for the bend, making a mental note to tell the council they need to come out here with the sweeper. If the leaves are left too long, they'll make the surface slippery, and that sort of thing can cost lives. Marius has seen it many times before. He's been on the force forty-one years, senior officer at the station for the last seventeen, and he has to prod them about it every single autumn. But not today--today he has to focus on the conversation.
The Chestnut Man by Soren Sveistrup, translated by Caroline Waight (Harper, Sept. 3, p. 3, galley)

Quick Facts
  • Setting: Copenhagen, modern times
  • Circumstances: Police detective Nania Thulin and her temporary partner Mark Hess have to stop a violent killer from terrorizing the city. Nania wants out of major crimes and into cyber-crime, and Mark, a Europol agent, has been sent to Denmark as a kind of punishment. The killer they're after is a violent murder who plants a calling card at each crime scene. When one of the chestnut dolls found with a body contains fingerprints that match the kidnapped and (until now) presumed dead tween daughter of a government official, the case becomes more complicated.
  • Genre & themes: contemporary Scandinavian crime fiction in translation
  • Why I want to read it: I love thrillers in translation, especially books set in Denmark. This one is supposed to be told from a variety of perspectives: the government official, the two police detectives, other police, possible suspects, and victims. From the first three chapters, I can tell this is going to be dark.
  • Extra things to know: Author Sveistrup is the man behind the television show The Killing, one of my favorites. This is his first novel, and it has been winning a lot of praise and starred reviews (though I have seen a few negative comments, mostly related to the length of the book).
  • Acknowledgments: Thanks to Harper for the review copy of The Chestnut Man by Soren Sveistrup.

8 comments:

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea 9/3/19, 7:47 AM  

I have a review copy of this one. It sounds like it'll be a bit gory but, we shall see. Hope you enjoy it.
Here's my pick : http://bibliophilebythesea.blogspot.com/2019/09/first-chapter-first-paragraph-tuesday.html

Daryl 9/3/19, 8:19 AM  

sounds like a good involving read .. kind i like, thanks!

bermudaonion 9/3/19, 8:21 AM  

I'm looking forward to this one!

sherry fundin 9/3/19, 12:11 PM  

i love a good serial killer novel. thanks for sharing the wonderful review
sherry @ fundinmental

Sassy Brit @ Alternative-Read.com 9/3/19, 2:25 PM  

The beginning sounds very descriptive, I'd read on! I do like Scandinavian detective stories!

Here is my Tuesday Teaser post.

Mae Travels 9/3/19, 3:44 PM  

I wonder what does make Scandinavian detectives so intriguing! I loved Stovall and Walloo when they were writing them, as well as some others.

best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

Girl Who Reads 9/3/19, 6:05 PM  

I haven't had much luck with Scandinavian crime novels. I'm not sure if it is me or the books that I have picked up. This one sounds good though.

Donna at Girl Who Reads

Sue Jackson 9/3/19, 6:44 PM  

This sounds good - and we like The Killing, too!

Sue

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