Elsebeth Egholm

In the ever growing world of Scandinavian crime fiction another author has been given the chance at having their work translated into English for the first time. I am in the fortunate position to be given this book to review prior to it's publication. I'll admit that I was a bit concerned that I was starting to become Scandi-Crime fatigued but I really enjoyed this great book.

This isn’t the first book written by Elsebeth Egholm, in fact it is her 10th if my maths is correct and it shows show more her craft as a writer. It would be easy to fall back on comparisons to other Scandinavian crime writers that I like such as Asa Larsson, Jo Nesbo or Henning Mankell but Egholm has a distinct style all of her own and it stands out.

This book has a cornucopia of characters all with a story of his or her own from the underbelly of Danish society. These characters mesh really well with the harsh Baltic winter in the book. This creates an atmosphere which on the surface is pure as the winter snow but when you scratch the surface there is a more sinister edge to things. Interestingly, I found the main character of Peter Boutrup a little weak at first but as the story goes on there is more flesh added to him and I started to really like him.

Peter has recently been released from prison and wants to make a clean start on life and leave his past behind him. His neighbour Felix has given up on life and is literally a shell of what she was previously. Mark Bille Hanson is a policeman who has returned to his local town with the intention for him to recuperate from an illness. Finally, Kirsten Rojel is a diver who is caught in between her passion for diving and the expectations of her father as to what is a suitable job for a woman. All these characters have secrets and their lives collide during the story. Kirsten was a character I particularly liked and is the one character which really stood out for me. I think this was a combination of her being a strong female while at the same time being distinctly human. None of the character stories require a large leap of faith something which I can find a little annoying at times.

The book really flows well and I found myself reading 50-60 pages at a time, something which I rarely do. I had thought that at 462 pages it would take me a while to get through but it was a real ‘page turner’. I ended up reading it in just over a day due to the way that it really sucked me in. At several times I thought I knew who the killer was only to be thrown off the scent again. The plot is fairly involved but not to the point where I struggled to suss out who was doing what.

I think fans of thrillers and crime novels will love this book and I really hope the next one gets published in English before too long. show less

NEXT OF KIN is #4 in an established series featuring full time journalist and part-time sleuth Dicte Svendsen, but, as far as I can work out, the first of the titles available in English from this popular Danish crime fiction writer.

NEXT OF KIN raises some of the issues that have surfaced in Western countries affected by an influx of immigrants from Islamic countries. Among the issues raised are fears of terrorism, problems of assimilation, and cultural complexities.

The thing that puzzles show more Dicte Svendsen when she is sent a video of a beheading by a sabre-wielding person in black is why she was selected to receive it. Later communications from the person confirm that the answer is in Dicte's own past. When the first victim is found she realises where she has seen the tattoo on his arm before. And what events have triggered the killer to act now, if the original events occurred so long ago?

The sub-plot focussing on a psychologist whose daughter was recently killed by a drunken hit and run driver is an interesting one too. The driver serves only 4 months of his sentence which to the girl's father seems far too short. An organisation called United Victims is calling for the re-instatement of the death penalty, not just in Denmark. NEXT OF KIN is also about crimes, particularly sexual ones, where the perpetrators are never found, but where the victims continue to suffer. show less

Good. Unusual story; well developed characters.

Ein grausamer Mord - und eine Journalistin, die von ihrer Vergangenheit eingeholt wird

Ein neuer Fall für Dicte Svendsen: Der Århuser Journalistin wird Filmmaterial zugespielt. Darauf ist zu sehen, wie einem Mann der Kopf abgeschlagen wird. Dicte wendet sich geschockt More...an die Polizei. Doch an deren Theorie von einem politisch motivierten Mord glaubt sie nicht. Warum hat man ausgerechnet ihr die grausigen Aufnahmen geschickt? Sie forscht nach und findet heraus, dass sie den Toten show more kannte.

Packender Krimi-Stoff aus Dänemark. show less