Starred review from November 13, 2023
This superb Scandinavian noir from de la Motte (Deeds of Autumn) opens with the disappearance of Smilla Holst and Malik Mansur, a college-age couple with a penchant for exploring abandoned buildings in southern Sweden. Leonore Asker, head of the Serious Crime Command in Skåne, is on the case—at least until national bigwig detective Jonas Hellman arrives from Stockholm to assist her. The two have history: they carried on an affair that ended when Asker reported Hellman for misconduct. After Hellman arrives in Skåne, he schemes to have Asker moved off of the case. She’s swiftly demoted to manage a team of “HR nightmares” in the Resources Unit—better-known by her colleagues as “the Department of Orphaned Cases and Lost Souls”—and discovers that her new colleagues have been working on a seemingly trivial vandalism case involving an extraordinarily detailed model railroad in the nearby locality of Hässelholm. As the plot slowly unfolds, that vandalism becomes key to discovering what happened to the missing college students, and to uncovering several other crimes carried out by a figure who calls himself the Mountain King. De la Motte nimbly juggles a substantial cast as his plot grows increasingly intricate, ratcheting suspense to near-unbearable heights. This crackerjack page-turner will keep readers up late. Agent: Federico Ambrosini, Salomonsson Agency.
December 1, 2023
Sharp-witted Leo Asker, section chief in Malm�'s serious crimes unit, fearlessly answers a career-ending demotion with a covert, no-holds-barred hunt for a serial killer. When urban explorers Smilla Horst and Malik Mansur disappear while visiting an abandoned building, media attention compels the investigative team to bring in Leo's former flame, national police detective Jonas Hellman. Still smarting from their disastrous breakup, Jonas responds to Leo's challenges by engineering her dead-end "promotion" to head the Resources Department. Fortunately, Leo's "Lost Souls Department" predecessor was secretly investigating a strikingly similar disappearance, and his evidence points her toward an insular mountain community with a model railroad club that's weirdly bursting with viable suspects and connections to unsolved disappearances. Secrets from Leo's abusive childhood loom throughout, fueling her determination to prevail. This series debut is a sure bet for fans of gritty procedurals: think Lars Kepler's explosive action and procedural details and Karin Fossum's unsettling characterization and atmosphere, with fascinating subcultures and twisty psychological suspense.
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