Börge Hellström (1957–2017)

This novel is divided into five parts, and the first two were rather slow going. There is a rather elaborate setup, necessary to the fast pacing of the last two parts, but I almost lost patience. I also haven’t read anything by these two authors, so the character development of their detective Ewert Grens was rather lost on me. I suspect fans wouldn’t find the first parts as tedious as I did. But by the third part, the pace picked up and the setup began to pay off.
I was a little disoriented by how seriously the Swedish legal system seemed to take the coverups required to use police informants. Then I was a little ashamed that we in the United States don’t give it a second thought. As the prosecutor says, “Criminals working for the police. Criminals’ own crimes being covered up and downplayed. One crime is legitimized so that another one can be investigated. Policemen who lie and withhold the truth from other policemen. Damn it, Grens, in a democratic society.”… (more)