Title: Summer
Death
Author: Mons Kallentoft
Review: Good Scandinavian mystery to me is a
crime/victim, a troubled but dogged investigator, and a relentless slog through
the mundane until a small crack in the case appears and a resolution is
obtained. No fancy
tricks
or improbable coincidences needed; just good solid police work and
determination
will get you through. Kallentoft
accomplishes this with his
Swedish
based police procedurals, especially in Summer Heat.
Summer
Heat blends the anguish of a single mother (to a daughter)
investigating
a violent crime against a teen girl, the blinding heat of the
summer
(with fire), and a police establishment
who just want to pass it
off
as an immigrant crime. On top of that
everyone has secrets and
hindering
her case the whole way is a public not will to be honest,
derailing
her investigation all along the way.
These elements are blended
to
perfection as a criminal continues to terrorize a community.
My
only flaw with the novels (it is part of a series of police procedural
novels
featuring Malin Fors) is the lead character.
While I do not expect
to
like every lead character I do hope to identify with them in some way.
With
Malin Fors I am still looking for that bond that would connect me to
her
world. Now I have only read two books so
far, and these are being
translated
from the original Swedish (so some nuance may be lost), so I am
still
hanging with this series. I am sticking
with it because I like just
about
everything else about these books.
So
a solid mystery in the Swedish style; and it should be noted it can be
read
out of order from the other books in the series.
Publisher: Emily Bestler Books
ISBN: 978-1-4516-4254-4
Copyright: 2008 (translated 2012)
Pages: 455
Quick Review: 4 stars out of 5
Why I Read It: Love the Swedish
Mysteries
Where I Obtained the
Book:
Sent to me by the publisher for review.
Synopsis: In this chilling crime
novel starring the elusive, tough-as-nails
Swedish
police superintendent Malin Fors, a combustive summer turns deadly.
In
the midst of the hottest summer anyone can recall, a sweltering heat
wave
and raging forest fires plague the small Swedish burg of Linköping.
Things
get especially hot for police superintendent Malin Fors when a
teenage
girl is found naked and bleeding in a city park, incapable of
recollecting
how she came to such a state. Then, the corpse of a teenage
girl
turns up on a lakeside beach. For Malin, the divorced,
thirty-four-year-old
mother of a teenage daughter, the case is more than an
explosive
nightmare in a season of fire—it’s personal.
Dark
and brooding, with a protagonist that has earned Kallentoft’s novels a
global
readership, Summer Death is crime fiction at the cutting edge.
Author Biography: After being awarded the Swedish equivalent to
the Whitbread Award for his debut novel Pesetas, Mons Kallentoft chose to give
his own unique take on the classic Scandinavian crime novel. His success was
immediate. The first book in the series about superintendent Malin Fors
received unanimous praise from the national critics; it also conquered the
bestseller charts and has today sold more than 300,000 copies in Sweden alone.
Was
Mons Kallentoft born to be a storyteller? Yes, perhaps. Because, considering
his upbringing, literature was not the obvious path in life. Mons grew up in a
working-class home in the provincial town of Linköping, Sweden. Books were a
rare phenomenon in his house; instead the young author spent his time playing
football and ice hockey.
He
discovered literature when he was about fourteen, and bedridden following a
severe sports injury. Kafka, Hemingway and George Orwell introduced the young
man to a whole new world.
The
path to his own authorship led him through the advertising business, journalism
and the shady side of Madrid. His debut, Pesetas, which was awarded the Swedish
equivalent to the Whitbread Award, takes place among cocaine dealers and
bankrobbers in the Spanish capital.
Following
another couple of critically acclaimed novels (Marbella Club and Attractive,
Healthy & Spontaneous), as well as an well-regarded travelogue/food essay
(Food Noir), Mons Kallentoft chose to give his own unique take on the classic
Scandinavian crime novel. His success was immediate.
The
first book in the series about Superintendent Malin Fors received unanimous
praise from the national critics; it also conquered the bestseller charts and
has today sold more than 220 000 copies in Sweden alone. The novel recently
appeared on the Norwegian bestseller charts and the series about Malin Fors
will soon be published by leading publishing houses in nine countries.
Through
the series about Malin Fors, Mons Kallentoft re-establishes his connection to
his childhood home – a place that the truly cosmopolitan Kallentoft has spent
all his life running from. The result is an innovative series of crime novels
that are both poignant and packed full of suspense.
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