The Boy in the Suitcase by Leme Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis

This debut mystery by Danish authors Kaaberbol and Friis is an absorbing read. Not only is it a mystery but it delves into the personalities of the characters. The only confusion is what country/countries the action takes place in.

In brief, Sigita’s son Mikas is kidnapped by a woman who has previously offered him chocolate in the schoolyard and playground. Karin, at the behest of her boss Jan, retrieves an extremely heavy suitcase from a baggage check in the local train station. Curious, she opens it to find a young child, unconscious but alive, curled up in the suitcase. What nefarious activities was the boy headed for? Unsure what to do, she calls her long lost friend, Nina Borg, tells her about the suitcase, but not its contents. A long time ‘savior of the world’, she knows Nina will know what to do. The end result (not a spoiler), her boss doesn’t have what he wants and the abductor doesn’t have what he wants leading to two days of tension, terror  and murder.

Recommended by a bookseller from Soho Press at the Brooklyn Book Festival, The Boy in the Suitcase, the initial book in the Nina Borg series, was well worth the read. Towards the end, I was constantly reading because I wanted to know how it ended. The authors did leave some characters unsettled, I guess is the word I would use. I would have liked to find out what happened to some of them…the ones you get attached to.

The Boy in the Suitcase is a welcome addition to the Scandinavian mystery scene.  It has action, tension, mystery. It h as a plausible plot, a few surprises and a surprise ending…or more to the point, it has an end you don’t see coming until…presto, at one point you do see coming. If you’re a Nordic mystery fan, go for it.

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The Bridge – Swedish TV Series

I have become addicted to The Bridge, a Danish / Swedish TV mystery series. The premise: A killer somehow manages to turn off the lights on a bridge connecting Denmark and Sweden. He lays a dead body down on the borderline between the two countries so that one half is in Denmark and one half in Sweden. Now the two countries must collaborate on the investigation.

Sofia Helin portrays Saga Noren of the Malmo Police Department, who is on the autism spectrum somewhere. She is unable to read social signs and is focused on solving the case.

Kim Bodnia portrays Martin Rohda, a philandering, somewhat unethical detective from Copenhagen, who at times acts first and thinks later.

Helin and Bodnia portray these flawed characters perfectly. With an excellent supporting cast, The Bridge (Bron) is Nordic mystery at its best.

There are tBron hree seasons, beginning in 2011 and ending in 2015. In 2014, The Bridge won two Golden Nymph Awards for Best European Drama Series, and Best Actor in a Drama Series for Bodnia.

I’ll warn you ahead that the DVD is subtitled but I much prefer it that way so that you enjoy Helin’s dialogue. Her voice reveals so much about her. I’ve finished season one and am anxiously awaiting season 2.

The complete Bron DVD series is the perfect holiday/birthday gift for a mystery lover.

 

 

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Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen

In 2002, Merete Lynggaard, a prominent Danish politician, went missing on a car ferry from Denmark to Germany. She left behind her younger brother, Uffie, who had not spoken for 15 years, since an automobile accident they were involved in took their parents’ lives. Merete hasn’t been heard from since and it is presumed she went overboard and drowned.

In 2007, unpopular Police Detective Carl Morck was involved in a shooting in which one of his partners died and the other is in critical condition, probably paralyzed for life. Upon his return from medical leave, his boss Marcus Jacobsen couldn’t figure out what to do with him. Luckily, Parliament granted the police department an appropriation to create a department to re-examine cold cases, Department Q. Locate it in the basement which would minimize the risk of Morck interacting with other policemen and it would be a perfect place for Morck who can be abrasive at times.

Forced to chose a case to work on, Morck and his Syrian assistant  Hafez al-Assad, unintentionally pick the Lynggaard disappearance–high profile and never solved. Morck initially shows no interest in the case but as Assad uncovers interesting information, Morck begins a real investigation.

Of course the officer who handled the initial call was the bumbling Bak. And, of course, Morck and Assad find many avenues of inquiry never pursued during the initial investigation.

Adler-Olsen has created a good detective in Morck and his comical sidekick Assad. Morck is the Danish version of the chain smoking brooding cop we’ve all come to know and love in American crime fiction. He’s estranged from his wife who lives in a cottage next door. His stepson lives upstairs and sponges off Morck and he’s got a finicky tenant who lives in the basement.

The Keeper of Lost Causes has an interesting premise which I won’t tell you about since it will spoil the fun. Adler-Olsen does go back and forth between 2002 and 2007 but that merely enhances the plot. Readers will be guessing until almost the end about ‘who done it’.

Although I enjoyed The Keeper of Lost Causes and would read the next book in this 5 book series, I did find it a slower read than most mysteries, even the other Nordic translations I’ve read. Possibly a little tighter editing might have helped, but all in all, it’s a good series.

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