Who Watcheth

Who Watcheth is a question with more than one answer in this latest installment in Helene Tursten’s excellent police procedural series featuring Inspector Irene Huss of Göteborg, Sweden. Huss is on the trail of a serial killer who wraps his victims up in a package, a forensic countermeasure that the media uses to name the unknown suspect The Package Killer.

As the victims are investigated, it seems that the Package Killer stalks his victims for a time. It also seems that someone is stalking Inspector Huss. I confess that I am not a fan of what I call the “personal jeopardy” storyline. I am happy to have my detectives investigate and capture killers without mussing their hair, to be honest. For me, the puzzle is more compelling show more than fear they will be hurt. After all, if they die, the series is over, so the tension is never absolute. Of course, when the personal jeopardy spreads to their family, then there is a greater sense of peril. Nonetheless it does not win points with me. That personal jeopardy applied so often in Who Watcheth made the book less compelling for me.

I have a list of plot elements I like and dislike. They are not deal-breakers. Personal jeopardy is one. Another element I dislike is the interior monologue of madness from inside the killer’s head. That Who Watcheth pulled in two of my most disliked elements was a disappointment. For me, the monologue of madness is unnecessary. I prefer to let the detectives discern the motive from victimology and personal history. In Who Watcheth, the key to the motive is a message written on the “gifts” sent to the victims before their death. We don’t need the interior monologue to understand the motive.

One of the most disturbing and heart-breaking stories in the Huss series is The Fire Dance from a few years back. Fallout from that mystery complicates this one. I appreciate that Tursten makes room for one story to impinge on another. In real life, a case may have ramifications long after it is solved, boxed up, and filed away. Bringing back the story from the past is an authentic action, though that story was as bleak as can be.

There is nothing cozy about Scandinavian Noir and Helene Tursten is among the most noir of the noir. Her stories are often grim, disturbing explorations of twisted and broken killers. The tragic histories that broke and twisted them will sometimes break your heart. As grim and unrelenting as they may be, Tursten’s novels intrigue and capture readers with excellent pacing, characterization and imaginative plots.

Who Watcheth is a good mystery. It is fair and presents readers with the clues they need. In fact, readers may catch a hint or two before Inspector Huss and her colleagues. The work place environment is realistic, with friendships, alliances, and conflicts shifting and changing as they are likely to do. I wish there were more solidarity with Huss female supervisor, but stereotypes of successful women invade books my women, too. I like that Huss has a happy home life with solvable, ordinary problems and a dog that is just too cute for words.

I thought this was one of the weaker books in her series. I did not think the killer’s monologue was necessary and found it distracting. Huss relied on that far too much and I would argue that it was unnecessary in the first place. There was a bit too much personal jeopardy as well, what with Huss, a female colleague and Huss again in jeopardy. The victimology seems a bit weak, as well, as though the only trigger needed was being seen by the killer. Some interaction triggering the targeting and stalking would have seemed more real, though I know at times it can be just that random. I also think it might have been a stronger book if there were more viable suspects. However, as a procedural, the winnowing of suspects was effective and realistic.

However, a weaker Helene Tursten mystery is still better than average. Even when not at her best, Helene Torsten writes a strong police procedural with pacing so fast and engrossing that you think you have just started and you’re halfway through the book. Her characters are people you will care about, even if you have not read the entire series. If you have, then you really want to know how they are doing and see them change over time. I have a soft spot for Helene Tursten’s series in particular because my grandparents emigrated from Varmland, leaving from Göteberg. Some of the books in the series take us out of the city into rural Varmland and there are place names I recognize. I like to imagine what they might have been like for my grandparents and great aunts and uncles. Tursten writes beautifully about the landscape and makes it come alive and I love that about her books.

Who Watcheth will be released on December 6th. I received an advance e-galley from Soho Press through Edelweiss.

★★★
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Helene Tursten's latest Irene Huss mystery is even leaner and meaner than previous novels. While changes continue to occur in the lives of empty nesters Irene and Krister, Irene is under a very real-- and very creepy-- threat. When no connections are found between the victims, it is steady, dogged police work that wins the day. Never give up. Keep knocking on doors. Keep asking questions. Keep going over and over the evidence for that one tiny clue that will break things wide open. There's something to be said for police officers in crime fiction who are lavishly endowed with intuition, but I also admire a never-say-die attitude and plenty of hard work.

Tursten does an excellent job of ratcheting up the suspense in this very enjoyable show more police procedural, and Irene Huss continues to be one of my favorite characters. The author also addresses a couple of points that drive me crazy not only in crime fiction and film but in real life. Whether in a vehicle or on foot, you should always have good knowledge of your surroundings. Know the neighborhood in which you live. Don't travel the streets wearing earbuds or with your face buried in a cell phone. And for crying out loud, close your curtains when it gets dark! Don't provide any- and everyone with something they can't resist watching. I learned the hard way: no matter how uninteresting you may feel yourself to be, there is always someone who finds you fascinating. Tursten is well aware of these things, and she's used them to write an exciting tale that can make your skin crawl. show less

Irene Huss and her colleagues in the Gotebörg police department are looking for a serial killer who preys on middle-aged women. The police narrow in on a suspect who fits the profile, but there is frustratingly little evidence. All they can do is wait for the killer to make a mistake. Then unexplained things start happening at Irene’s home. Is Irene the killer’s next target, or is someone from Irene’s past out to get her?

I’m torn about this series. Irene’s home life and her relationships with her colleagues are at the heart of these novels. Many readers will relate to the ups and downs in Irene’s life, such as her mother’s death, balancing motherhood with a career, becoming an empty-nester, losing a much-loved pet and show more bonding with a new pet. However, the mystery plots are weak and may disappoint readers who are well-read in the crime genre. show less

A murderous stalker seems to be targeting middle-aged women in Göteborg, and things get decidedly alarming when Irene begins to suspect that a series of unpleasant things that have happened to the Huss family lately may be connected: is the stalker watching her too?

This one didn't seem to work quite so well - despite Tursten's best efforts, TV clichés are beginning to creep in, like the deliberately ambiguous passages in the stalker's voice interpolated between chapters, and the ridiculous creepy ending, after dark in a peat-bog. And the whole suspense depends on the cheap device of the police failing to ask an obvious question until the very last moment.

He can be your guardian or your punisher depending on whether you follow his rules. Of course, that can be a bit challenging since you aren’t aware you’re being stalked.

The 9th instalment in this series can be summed up with a big “eeewww” as we join Irene Huss & her team on the hunt for a serial killer in Goteborg. He has a preferred type & is fond of quoting the Old Testament but that’s just part of his twisted MO.

Meanwhile Irene has a couple of other things on her plate. Weird stuff is happening around her home & it’s starting to get scary. And at work she has to deal with a superintendent who takes every opportunity to belittle her efforts. That may change when the case hits close to home.

Like each book, this can be read show more as a stand alone. But there are long term relationships between these characters that are continually evolving & add so much to the plot. They have distinct & well developed personalities & part of the enjoyment comes from catching up with their story lines.

It’s a proper police procedural that shows the hard work & frustration that goes into an investigation as they wait for a break. The side plots keep things moving at a steady pace as tension builds for a frightening showdown with a seriously creepy bad guy. Add a funny little dachshund named Egon & really….what more do you need? show less

This is the eighth appearance by Detective Inspector Irene Huss, and it is a good solid police procedural. Detective Huss and her colleagues are trying to track down a serial killer who washes his victims and wraps them in plastic after he has strangled them -- the "Package Killer". The plot is full of twists and turns and interesting characters, including a victim who survived the killer's attack. In time, suspicion extends into the police force itself, creating some novel situations for Detective Huss. Meanwhile, her home life continues; one nice thing about this series is the fact that the central character is happily married, not dependent on alcohol, and fairly cheerful most of the time. Why then only three and a half stars? It show more would have been nice had the crimes been motivated by something other than that standard motive in Scandinavian mysteries -- religiously-linked mania. This is an involving thriller and a good read, it's just not as good as some of the earlier entrants in the series. show less

For those of you who are fans of the Swedish TV movies in the Irene Huss series (very few of you, I’m sure, but you should be), if you’ve watched Episode 7, you’ve seen a scaled down and revised version of Who Watcheth. On TV it was called Anyone Who Watches in the Dark. Published in Sweden in 2010, the book is only making its way to America in 2016.

WhoWatcheth

Two bodies have been discovered, the victims strangled with a commonly used cord, washed clean with some sort of detergent and wrapped in plastic. Forensics have found cat hairs on the tape around the plastic and some oil coating on the plastic as well. Initially, there seems to be no connection between the two victims other than the fact they are female and are in their show more mid-forties.

A search also uncovers a survivor of a similar attack who is able to describe the form of attack as well as some characteristics of the attacker-strong, smelly. Certain occurrences are common to the two murders as well.

Huss, Jonny Bloom, Fredrik et al of the Goteborg Police have their hands full.

A side story concerns acts of vandalism and violence against Huss and her family. Considering Huss has her hands full investigating the strangulations, she’s ill prepared for handling her own issues. This side story is given short shrift in the televised version of the story.

The ending of the story is actually one of my favorites and I’ll tell you I happen to like the TV ending better. Although they are very similar, they are not exactly the same. show less