Inger Wolf

Lo que más me ha gustado de este libro, es que me lo he leído casi sin darme cuenta, el estilo narrativo de la autora es fresco y fácil y a pesar de las cosas que pudiera criticar del libro o del estilo de la autora, lo cierto es que casi se lee solo.

Los personajes me encantan, el equipo de investigación de Homicidios manejado por Trokic es de lo más variopinto y eso le da un color muy peculiar a la historia, este es el primer libro de una serie, por lo tanto sus personajes principales show more y protagonistas, tienen y deben tener un peso importante en la historia, siempre es importante que los que vamos a ver en uno y otro y otro libro sean personajes fuertes, atrayentes y fáciles de recordar, así pues, la primera premisa se ha cumplido a cabalidad, si bien Trokic es un solitario empedernido tampoco es el típico protagonista que acostumbramos a ver en este tipo de libros, no es alcohólico, no es drogadicto, no es depresivo, ni nada de eso, lo cual se agradece.

La historia, por otro lado me ha gustado, si bien está planteada a la perfección y tiene el encanto perfecto de tener su dosis de complejidad donde interviene el sector salud, una secta religiosa y otras cosas, lo cierto es que la autora ha dejado ver al lector quién es el culpable, a ver, en mi caso fue mi principal sospechoso desde el principio, pero no tuve la certeza sino hasta el 75% del libro, eso no quiere decir que sea malo o que se trate de una crítica, saber o no quien es el asesino no la ha quitado en absoluto el disfrute que me ha dado esta lectura.

A pesar de que he dicho que me lo he leído casi sin darme cuenta, cosa que es verdad, también tengo que reconocer que en ocasiones el ritmo de la narración me desesperaba, mientras que en ocasiones iba a toda mecha, en otras se detenía y se pausaba, sobre todo en situaciones que realmente no son irrelevantes, un pequeño pero al libro pero bastante salvable, por lo demás, me ha gustado el estilo, la historia y los personajes show less

Not my favorite. Trokic is getting worse, or the writing is? I don't love some of the gender things, but that's in-character so I can understand it; but I could've done without the extra descriptive parts about how gross fat people are, and the whole woowoo-dangerous-africa plot point was poorly done. Overall the tracking of information, what's valuable, what's remembered, what's followed up on, felt sloppy and inconsistent - i.e. not a problem of this police station but of the writer. There show more was also not a ton of characterization. I followed it fine because I've read the other books, but I imagine it would be pretty flat for a new reader. I can't check, because the digital copies have been reissued and mine disappeared, which is a whole separate complaint. All that said, I'm usually pretty forgiving of mysteries if they entertain me, it's possible this book is fully in line with the rest of the series, but because I got annoyed by that particular plot device, I started noticing and being annoyed by more things I'd usually overlook. show less

The missing women seem to have no connection to each other, no people, no places, no activities in common. But they do share one important thing, their long auburn hair. In fact, they look so similar, they could be sisters. It seems their killer, their sick, very twisted killer has a very specific type. And a particularly horrible way of killing them.

I will warn you, this is a story about a twisted, psychologically damaged serial killer...and the killer is not the only one in this book with show more a few issues. From the opening chapter, told from a victims point of view, we know we are in for a creepy ride.
The plot is clever, the discoveries about the identity of the killer and their motivation building up in a realistic way with a nice twist at the end that took me by surprise. That is the good news.

But the news is not all good.
I am not sure who translated the book from the author's native Danish, but it seems to cause a few problems. Sometimes a sentence seems oddly structured and much of the dialogue is very awkward, honestly not the way policemen would talk. It is not a deal breaker but still a noticeable issue and rather distracting.

Also the characters are not as well developed as I might like, not least of all the lead police detective Daniel Trokic. On more than one occasion I got him and his second in command confused with each other, not a great sign. Again, while not a deal breaker, it is something that keeps the book from moving from the good to the very good level. This is Wolf's first book to be translated into English, but not the first in the series. Perhaps that is part of the problem because I never felt like I knew Trokic's story. The setting in Arhus, Denmark adds some interest. I always find it interesting to see the differences in how the police departments of other countries operate and some of the differences in their daily lives.

Overall, Evil Water is a nice addition to the list of Scandinavian mysteries out there, if not the very best. show less

This story was far darker than most of my usual reads, and to be honest, it still has me jumping at unusual sounds. With a tone that is similar to many Scandinavian authors I have read, Inger Wolf has managed to maintain that fine line between captivating a reader’s interest, setting a scene, and developing characters with pointed description highlighted by information provided in a need-to-know basis that heightened the tension.

The psychopathic treatment of victims, combined with the show more graphic and often gruesome depictions of crime scenes, liberally peppered with dialog about and around the scenes that was very real in feel, kept the impressions about Trokic in constant flux, impressed with his dedication one moment, finding him rather over-wrought and overwhelmed when personal concerns leaked into his professional moments.

With multiple potential suspects, the “who did it” seemed to change with each murder, each revelation. All of those twists and turns make this a page turner to the end, and the final guilty party was so well hidden and revealed that I sat silent for several moments trying to figure out how they were unearthed.

I thoroughly enjoyed every spine tingling moment of this story, and will gladly suffer the moments of fright again to read another of this author’s books. Fans of Crime Thrillers will love this book and author.
I received an eBook copy from the publisher for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review, and all conclusions are my own responsibility. show less