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.
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A Police Procedural that is a Worthy Follow Up to The Tenant
Somehow, when I read The Tenant, I missed the fact that it was the first book in Katrine Engberg’s Scandinavian series featuring Detectives Annette Werner and Jeppe Korner. When I saw The Butterfly House on NetGalley, first, I loved the cover, and second, I read the description and realized that it was the second book. Cue me anxiously waiting to see if I would get approved, and then jumping up and down like someone who has been at home for months…..years….decades…..I am not quite sure anymore. Anyway, once I saw that approval email and calmed down, I sent it to my Kindle and pushed everything out of my way to start reading. In case I failed to share my excitement, I should mention that I loved The Tenant.Now back to my regularly scheduled review. When a body is found in a fountain, it is hard to imagine what the killer’s motive could be. There are numerous small incisions on the body which meant the victim bleed out slowly and painfully. This makes it seem personal, rather than random, and as the body count rises, the only thing the victims have in common is past employment at Butterfly House.Jeppe struggles to connect the dots before anyone else dies. He is also dealing with living with his needy and overbearing mother, working without his usual partner Annette who is on maternity leave, and taking tentative steps towards a new relationship with a coworker. There are a lot of suspects and more than one mystery going on in this book. Esther de Laurenti ( from The Tenant) has problems of her own, and Annette misses her job, and before long, she is investigating the case on her own. Add in a conman, a grieving father, former Butterfly House patients, a well-known psychiatrist, and a nurse with an attitude, and you have an engrossing story with threads that all come together in the end.Raises hand when asked if now officially hooked on this series.I received a DRC from Gallery/Scout Press through NetGalley.
Top reviews from other countries
robert dinwoodie
Excellent new author to follow
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 1, 2021
