Farewell to Freedom aka The Night Women

Once again Danish author Sara Blaedel uses the vehicle of a crime novel series (featuring Copenhagen Detective Louise Rick) to expose the exploitation and abuse of women. In this instance, the emphasis is on a particularly insidious form of prostitution.

In Farewell to Freedom, Blaedel calls attention to human trafficking: specifically, the kidnapping of young foreign girls who are brought over to Copenhagen and forced into prostitution, which was decriminalized (albeit with restrictions) in Denmark in 1999. Since the girls from abroad are only allowed to stay for three months on tourist visas, they are moved from country to country like livestock, which is why those who gain from this human trafficking are known as “shepherds.”

The show more girls are kept on a punishing schedule to bring money in for the traffickers, and if they object, the pimps threaten to harm or kill them, and/or retaliate against their family members back home. The girls also face a daily threat of possible violence or even death from johns, in addition to the basic degradation and trauma of prostitution generally. They are too afraid to report what is happening to the police.

In Denmark (according to the U.S. State Department’s 2009 Human Rights Report), most of the trafficked women originate from the Baltic countries, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, West Africa, and Latin America. This particular novel involves girls from Czechoslovakia.

As the story opens, one of these girls is found brutally murdered in a way suggesting it was done to serve as a warning for the others. Almost simultaneously, an abandoned infant is found at a nearby church. Are these two events somehow related?

Detective Louise Rick, along with her good friend reporter Camilla Lind, end up, as usual, looking into the same occurrences but from different angles. Whereas Louise approaches them as a relatively dispassionate police investigator, Camilla always gets emotionally involved; in this instance, far too much.

In their personal lives, the plot line involving the infant precipitates a clash between Louise and Camilla on the importance of children: is having them a proper criterion for a successful life? Louise would rather be “free,” and remembered having once visited a fortuneteller "…who in all seriousness told her that a child’s soul chose the mother it wanted before it was born. Personally, Louise was just fine with the fact that no child’s soul had picked her.”

Their attitudes on children come into play as more people become involved in the crimes. Neither woman believes in coincidences: fortunetelling aside, why were all these crimes somehow picking them?

Discussion: Blaedel has an interesting way of taking the reader on what appears to be a plodding, methodical course, following around the police as they slowly get wise to a seemingly obvious perpetrator. Then suddenly she upends the story. But the twist is also rendered in an low-key way, making for a very fun effect. It reminds me of jalapeño chocolate ice cream: you taste the familiar chocolate; you’re wondering what the fuss is; and then the jalapeño kicks in, slow but sure. Yes!!!

Evaluation: The story pulls you in as it moves along, and manages to stack up satisfying surprises in the end. I love how much I learn because of the nature of the crimes highlighted in Blaedel’s police procedurals, and I love that the author spotlights – in a balanced and compassionate manner - sociological problems faced by women.

Note: This is the 4th book in the Louise Rick/Camilla Lind series, but you don’t need to have read the others to figure out who is who and what’s happening. show less

I liked the cast of strong women characters and the fact that this author doesn't see the need to describe every tiny detail to be a big selling point on her books. I have read two of her other books but this one I found to be somewhat tedious with way too much going on making the story somewhat hard to follow. The editors...or rather the lack of...was partly to fault. I know translation is sometimes difficult from some languages to English but it seems they could have done a better job.

In inner Copenhagen a woman is found murdered one night. The scene of the crime is very bloody, as her throat was cut in an uncommonly violent fashion.

Police officer Louise Rick has been put on the case together with some colleagues when she receives a phonecall from her friend Camilla Lind who's the crime reporter on Morgenavisen. She is deeply disturbed by an experience her 11-year-old son had the same morning when he on his way to school found an abandoned infant.

All clues in the murder case point towards the hooker environment of Copenhagen, but when another beastly murder is committed it's clear that new players are a field - players who ruthlessly abuse and punish others if it'd help their own lucrative business.

Review: Slow to show more start, but it quickly picks up and becomes very interesting. It touches upon one of the most despicable crimes around - human trafficking. It's something I feel very strongly against and therefore had a hard time stomaching the book which as always was very well written. It ends rather abrupt and with an unexpected twist, but unlike some of her other books the abruptness doesn't mean any threads are left hanging... or rather they are, but not in an unsatisfying way, but rather because it couldn't be any different.

I don't know if she's planned any more Louise Rick books, but I hope so. show less

The Night Women by Danish author Sara Blaedel is part of her crime series featuring Detective Louise Rick and is a solid and engaging story about the murder of a prostitute and the abandonment of a new born baby. Louise is assigned first to one case and then to the other.

Touching on some sensitive issues such as human trafficking, forced prostitution and rape, the author keeps the story frank and moving forward. Louise’s best friend Camilla, a news reporter, becomes involved in the investigation. I found the translation to be quite long-winded with some awkard phrasing. While in real life most of the trafficked girls originate from the Baltic counties, this book involved girls from Czechosloakia.

While Louise, as a police investigtor show more stays quite dispassionate, Camilla becomes much more emotionally involved and the reader is pulled along in these two woman’s wake. I found this story of “socially-aware” crime to be interesting and I will certainly be looking for another of Sara Blaedel’s books fearuring Louise Rick and Camilla Lund. show less

Louise Rick and Camilla Lind have been tied to one another for years as friends. It seems quite prophetic that Louise would become a detective and Camilla a crime reporter so that even their careers become linked. Farewell to Freedom seems to shine more of a spotlight on Camilla and her son Markus. Camilla advocates for more in-depth news coverage and an investigation into the murdered prostitute. When she feels the paper isn’t providing the coverage needed, she launches her own investigation into the murder that results in finding a witness. Her witness may not be deemed too reliable since he's a known alcoholic, but he does provide Camilla with viable information. Then he is found murdered, Camilla feels a sense of responsibility show more and plans his funeral with the help of Pastor Henrik Holm, father of Markus's new friend Jonas. Two murders that are tied to traffickers involved in the sex trade; two newborn infants being left on church steps within days of each murder; is it coincidence?
Ms. Blaedel shows the more maternal side of Camilla in Farewell to Freedom. Camilla spends more time with Markus and his new friend Jonas and is overly concerned about the possible repercussions from their discovery of the infant. Camilla is also presented as more fragile when she has a mini-breakdown after finding a second infant, a deceased infant. The reader is also shown a somewhat softer side to Louise as she helps Markus and Jonas understand what will happen to the infant they found and then nurtures Camilla during her mini-breakdown. I found Farewell to Freedom to be another fast-paced read that grabbed my attention from the first word until the very last. The story provides great international intrigue, horrific crimes, and a cat-and-mouse chase of the criminals, as well as revealing more facets to the personalities of both Camilla and Louise. There's a nice little surprise twist to the ending and I can't wait for the next installment in this series to see how things develop. show less

Twin mysteries combine in Sara Blaedel’s Night Women. A dead woman and an abandoned baby both provide problems to be solved. But curious teens and the threat of human trafficking, family life and longing, and unfamiliar horror intervene—it’s a story where the good guys and bad guys aren’t always what they seem, where horror is the least of threats, and where friendship might be the tie that truly binds.

Dark, complex, compelling and devious, the Night Women is a good, steady read with great characters, strong female leads, serious problems, and fascinating mystery.

Disclosure: I got a copy for my birthday.

his is the fourth of the author's books I've read. This one didn't hold my interest as much as the others, but still, it was worth the time and energy spent in reading. The detective Louise Rick is involved in a series of very gruesome killings. She and her team mates discover an underground ring of evil thugs who use women for sex traffic. Once the snare the women in their net, it is impossible to get away.