****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
This is the second book featuring Katrine Engberg's two detective leads, Jeppe Kørner and Anette Werner. I really love the dynamic of their relationship. Continuing from where we left off in the first book (The Tenant), we now find Jeppe dating a coworker of his, but he's nervous about fully committing to the relationship. Then there's my favorite – the gruff, no-nonsense Anette struggling to adapt to new motherhood as a 44-year-old workaholic police detective. Even with all the social supports for parents in Denmark, it's not easy! All the thoughtful descriptions of the settings kind of amalgamate into a visit to Copenhagen – there's a creepy museum, Rosenborg Castle, Fredenshavn (kind of like a homeless encampment with houseboats, nothing more Scandinavian that that really). Then there's the deep underbelly of a train station, etc. Not to mention CopenHot (floating rental hot tubs, who knew that existed), and American-style Halloween stuff at Tivoli. I mean, that's a lot of ground to cover. Fun as the settings are, they don't overpower the focus on the characters and plot.One of my favorite descriptions, so vivid: "Copenhagen is a dormant plant that lives off the scant sunlight falling on its leaves. The city can be all curled in on itself during the dark, wet windy times that comprise most of a Scandinavian year. But when the sun's rays finally hit, the city unfurls in a blossoming that is every bit as sudden as it is breathtaking" (p. 355). This reminds me of what I always tell people myself, Copenhagen is like a cup of jasmine tower tea: add hot water, see it bloom. The translation dances adeptly and very close to the Danish in the hands of Tara Chase, and I really appreciate how well the Danish style and attitudes were captured.Plot-wise in this book, a murder victim turns up in a public fountain at Gammeltorv on Copenhagen’s main pedestrian shopping street "Strøget," and that gets the rip-roaring mystery plot running. It's a well written, high-paced mystery that actually branches out into multiple mysteries, so the fairly intricate structure of the plot is really fun – something Engberg is quite deft at here. Character-wise, there are elderly roommates, disaffected teenagers, and a complicated array of murder motives. Ultimately the engaging characters, the interesting settings, and the equally deft translation are what will bring readers back to Engberg’s works.Definitely looking forward to book 3.
