Author: Jorgen Brekke
Genre: Mystery
Length: 311 Pages
Release: January 2012
Review
I received a copy of this book in a giveaway on goodreads a couple of years ago and had every intention of reading it right away. Obviously, that didn't happen. It's been sitting on my shelf, begging me to read it, ever since. And so I finally have.
This is the second in the Odd Singsaker series, following the titular character, a detective, as he works through various cases. I didn't read the first novel in the series and felt that I could follow the story and characters well enough without it, so they seem to be fairly self contained novels. I'm sure that there are some things that come out more with the characters through the series though.
The novel jumps between two different time periods in the same city. Odd's story and investigation into the murder of a woman and a possibly related kidnapping are set in the present. There is a parallel investigation, with ties to the present-day story, that is happening in the late 1700's.
Both stories had interesting details that kept me reading. And I always forget how much I enjoy mystery novels until I'm in the middle of one, so I had a lot of fun with this. That said, I wasn't in love with the story or characters. The mystery was interesting enough to keep me reading, but didn't make me think as much as I would have liked. Some things were too obvious while others were too hidden. Sometimes this worked well, other times not so much.
The conclusion to both mysteries was satisfying and also, in some ways, rather heartbreaking. Committing crime is never a good thing, and some of the characters learned a valuable--and devastating lesson--after what they did. The ending is open for a sequel (which I believe has been written, though I'm not sure that it's been translated to English). The mystery of this novel was tied up, but Odd may have a mystery of his own to solve as he searches for the woman he loves.
This is the second in the Odd Singsaker series, following the titular character, a detective, as he works through various cases. I didn't read the first novel in the series and felt that I could follow the story and characters well enough without it, so they seem to be fairly self contained novels. I'm sure that there are some things that come out more with the characters through the series though.
The novel jumps between two different time periods in the same city. Odd's story and investigation into the murder of a woman and a possibly related kidnapping are set in the present. There is a parallel investigation, with ties to the present-day story, that is happening in the late 1700's.
Both stories had interesting details that kept me reading. And I always forget how much I enjoy mystery novels until I'm in the middle of one, so I had a lot of fun with this. That said, I wasn't in love with the story or characters. The mystery was interesting enough to keep me reading, but didn't make me think as much as I would have liked. Some things were too obvious while others were too hidden. Sometimes this worked well, other times not so much.
The conclusion to both mysteries was satisfying and also, in some ways, rather heartbreaking. Committing crime is never a good thing, and some of the characters learned a valuable--and devastating lesson--after what they did. The ending is open for a sequel (which I believe has been written, though I'm not sure that it's been translated to English). The mystery of this novel was tied up, but Odd may have a mystery of his own to solve as he searches for the woman he loves.
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