The Strangler's Honeymoon

This is the ninth in the Inspector Van Veeteren series, and only serves to solidify Nesser's position amongst the cream of European crime writers. His stories are invariably well plotted, intelligently constructed, perfectly paced and nicely written. And always satisfying. This one is no different. In this, a teenage girl has an affair with her mother's lover, but when she disappears and a woman is found murdered there is a race against time to find the killer before he strikes again. For it looks like he has struck before. But no trace of his existence appears to exist and the investigation seems to be going nowhere fast. The story starts with an event some years before, and the tie-in of events past and present is well worked. Van show more Veeteren himself is now retired and running his antiquarian bookshop, but when a priest who calls on his assistance falls under a train before he can actually enlighten Van Veeteren, his investigative skills are again called upon, a link having been made between the at first seemingly separate events. Van Veeteren is not your usual detective with personal troubles and a solitary lifestyle, but a character of wit, intelligence and good taste. Other characters too you will find interesting, none more so than DI Ewa Moreno, who I wanted to feature even more in the story than she in fact did. The killer is one who will send a chill down your spine, his own personal story and his coldness make certain the fact that he must be caught before more deaths ensue. This is probably the longest of the Van Veeteren novels, but your interest you will find will never wane. Enjoy, I did! show less

While I do like the book, and I found it unusual in many respects, I did find some parts a bit disappointing

The first thing I found unusual, and highly interesting, was that he gave us some insight into the killer, and his thinking. We are kept guessing as to who he is, and we are presented with him, in his relationships.

I was very surprised that the good inspector hardly had any role in the book until I was 75% through, and then solved the identity of the murderer almost with no evidence. While intuition, and the ability to put together the pieces quickly, is indeed the hallmark of genius and experience, I was a bit surprised by the speed with which he solved the case.

The ending was disappointing, in my opinion.

I like the character show more portrayal of the killer, and the good inspector show less

Every now and then I try something different to my usual reading fare and this time I sampled a crime novel by this prolific and successful Swedish author. The storyline grabbed my interest immediately and I found I really wanted to know what would happen and how the crime would be solved. But as I read further I felt a bit cheated by the author - the book is big (over 600 pages) but towards the end it feels like things are being rushed and the end is very unsatisfying. I found I really wanted to know more about the killer, his motivations and why certain actions were taken but these things aren't really addressed in anymore than a superficial way. And, also, the dialogue is terribly written - very stilted and fake - as usual with a show more book in translation, it's hard to tell whether it is the author or the translator at fault. show less

What do I think of this book. Well, that's a bit hard to say. I liked it, but... it really is a very slow book. The investigation into a murder (later 4 murders) is very slow. No clues, no ideas no nothing to work with.
Despite the slowness, I liked it, as I already said. It still has that something that made me keep reading, wanting to know how it would end. If the murderer would ever be caught.
And is he? Well, that's for you to find out :-)

What bothered and distracted me from reading the most is, that I have no idea where to place the book. Is it Scandinavia? Then why are the streetnames and family names of the main characters and places so familiar to Belgian ones? Were they translated, maybe?

Die Verbindung zwischen den einzelnen Opfern ist unklar. Doch als der ehemalige Kommissar Van Veeteren widerwillig die Geborgenheit seines Antiquariats verlässt, um einigen mysteriösen Todesfällen nachzugehen, stößt er schnell auf ein deutliches Muster aus der Bücherwelt. Blake. Musil. Rilke. Offensichtlich ist der Mörder, den er sucht, belesen, denn die Decknamen, die er benutzt, sind literarische Anspielungen, und die einzigen Spuren, die er hinterlässt, sind seltene Gedichtbände. Van Veeteren ahnt, dass er es mit einem Mörder ungewöhnlichen Schlages zu tun hat.

At over 600 pages I suspect Nesser's success means that editors have been kept off him as this really could have been considerably tightened. The opening chapters were hard going containing underage non-consensual sex and strangling. Very grim. Good to have VV back on the scene even if he is a surly and at times unpleasant character. I need a cosy crime after this bleak number.

Possibly the best in the series so far.