The Hanging Girl: A Department Q Novel

This is a series I love. Not only are the cases interesting and full of their own quirks and twists, but so are the central characters. The cases assigned to Department Q are all cold cases, lying unsolved for years. The main team of characters are all broken in one way or another, with foibles and fears, secrets and sins, all wrapped up in many, many layers that Adler-Olsen carefully dissects away. And while some of the cases have the dark noir aspect of other Scandinavian writers, some are less vitriolic, but just as interesting to read. Sometimes you like a good mystery/detective novel that doesn't rip your guts out or give you nightmares. Jussi Adler-Olsen has proven to be able to craft a tale that grabs attention, and unfolds in a show more way that grabs interest, builds suspense, and defines characters beautifully.

Tags: 2016-read, a-favorite-author, currently-reading, nordic-noir, thank-you-charleston-county-library, translated-mystery show less

Up there as one of Adler-Olsen's best. The author gives the characters such realistic personalities that leave no religion unscathed. I appreciate the author's humor in having a crotchety old Danish man make this insensitive comment about Catholics: "Yes, they painted their bodies with symbols and chanted as if they were Catholics."

In The Hanging Girl, Carl Mørck and his gang in Department Q, investigate an exceptionally old case. Twenty years ago, Alberte, a beautiful young girl, was found dead, hanging in a tree. When the primary investigator kills himself after failing to get the crime solved, Rose hounds Carl into an investigation. In alternate chapters, we learn about a charismatic cult leader calling himself Atu Abanshamash Dumuzi, a messianic cult leader, who runs a school for the study of “nature absorption” on an island off the Swedish coast. When Assad and Carl get close to identifying the person they think was the original murderer, their own lives are put into danger.

The story is told in alternating perspectives. In one, we have Carl, Assad, and show more Rose endeavoring to find out what happened to Alberte the day she died, and verify what they now believe was a murder rather than a traffic accident. In the second, we meet Pirjo, a ruthless woman, who worships and adores Atu. I found this to be a much more interesting story line. Of course, it's inevitable that both these plots will eventually merge.

I am a huge fan of this series but the last couple have not lived up to the first books in the series. The book is very long and could easily have been shortened, which might have helped the story flow. I do like the way the characters interact and I love the bond that's developed over the years between Carl and Assad. It continues to strengthen in this book and there are some wonderful moments in the story when Carl realizes how much he's come to rely on Assad. I wouldn't mind losing Rose, though. She's become so unpleasant and whiny. While not my favorite, I'm still a fan and will be buying the next book in the series. show less

Department Q gets a tip about a cold case which leads Carl, Assad, and Rose (with some help from Gordon) to a sun worshiping cult on Bornholm. Another great installment in a series that I adore because of its extremely engaging characters. The mystery is (as usual) a bit extreme (although not as gory this time), but it does all add up in the end and the perp is unexpected. What this series is about, though, is the characters and our main group are in top form in this installment. And, we get another tiny hint of Assad's past, which makes him even more intriguing, of course; Adler-Olson had better reveal all before he finishes the last book about Department Q (this is book six of a planned ten).

In 1997, a seventeen year old girl named Alberte is murdered in a hit and run accident on the island of Bornholm. Her body was hit so hard that it flew up a tree, where she was found dangling from a branch the next day.

When the cold case comes to the Department Q staff, they are disinterested, but the story is such a strange one that they begin to investigate. On Bornholm they encounter a cult-like group that worshps the sun, and this strange group is intertwined in Department Q's cold case.

The story of the hanging girl is a very good one, complex, with interesting characters and shocking depravity. We learn a little more about Assad, the Syrian detective with the secret past life. Carl gets to drink a really good cup of coffee. Hardy show more is able to move his thumb now, and can use an electric wheelchair to get around. It's a good book. I enjoyed reading it, and wondered how Mr. Adler-Olsen is able to create such imaginative stories with such realistic characters.

I have two more Department Q books here at home, and there are another two on the market, so I will be enjoying Carl Morck et al for a long time to come. show less

When Carl receives a phone call from a colleague he barely remembers and brusquely rebukes, I know I'm in for another fascinating police procedural with my favorite trio. After the call and it's shattering aftermath, it's off to the island of Bornholm and a cold case involving a hit and run almost two decades previous. In the usual style, we move back and forth in time as Dept Q investigates. Even as I kept thinking there was a bit too much detail about the cult-like Nature Absorption center, the parts detailing Carl, Assad and Rose's investigations were spot on. Adler-Olsen continues to give us peeks in to the personal lives of the main characters and the mystery of Assad's background continues to be slowly revealed. I sure hope they show more are translating as quickly as I read, I look forward to the next book in this fine crime series. show less

A friend told me that this was his best read for 2015, and while it won't be my top read, it will certainly make it into my top 10 for the year. It took me quite a long time to readit, well over 10 days, which is long for me. I'm sure whether I had been hit by jet lag after my recent travels, or whether it was some how due to the translation and structure of the novel.

As always, someone will ask, "should I read the Carl Morck series in order"? This is #6 in the series, and I have only read three others. So there in part is your answer I guess. But I've certainly benefitted from reading earlier titles. They have contributed to my understanding of the composition of Department Q and of the relationships between its members. I also have show more some understanding of what happened to Morck's friend and colleague Hardy.

Carl Morck receives a phone call from a former colleague whose career has been blighted by his obsession with a murder that took place over three decades earlier. When Morck refuses to help by taking a look at the case, his former colleague commits suicide at his own retirement party, thus forcing Morck to at least visit Bornholm to look at the cause of the suicide. He takes Assad and Rose with him and between they decide that they need to look at the case that had so obsessed Christian Habersaat. In the long run, nothing is what it seems. The threads lead everywhere and finding continuous strings is hard.

When Assad and Carl get close to identifying the person they think was the original murderer, their own lives are put into danger. And meanwhile the author is layering more and more information onto our plates, for us to sift and decide what to discard. This is certainly one of those novels where the reader gets a strong intimation of what is required of the detective.

One of the things that struck me about this novel is a level of humour created by Assad's literal interpretation of idiomatic language. It wasn't an element that had struck me so much in earlier novels. And Morck begins to understand that he doesn't know everything to know about Assad. show less