The Mind's Eye

A man wakes with no memory of who he is, and he finds a woman’s body dead in the bath. The woman was his wife, and since he was the only other person in the house, he must have killed her. That’s what everyone believes, or, everyone but Inspector Van Veeteren, that is. When the husband is subsequently murdered, Van Veeteren knows that he is on the right track. Van Veeteren organizes his colleagues as they follow the meager leads to identify a motive, a suspect, and an opportunity.

I didn’t find Van Veeteren likeable. His methodology seems to be making educated guesses. He gives orders to his subordinates without sharing his suspicions with them, and he mocks their inability to read his mind. I’m not interested enough in this show more series to continue with it. show less

Schoolteacher Janek Mitter wakes up with a hell of a hangover one morning and discovers the body of his wife in the bathtub. While it’s clear she has been murdered the question that neither police nor Mitter can answer is whether or not he was the one who killed her. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, Mitter is tried, convicted and confined to an asylum for the mentally ill but the case is not yet finished and events cause the police to investigate further.

By reputation Scandinavians are cold and dour but, if their crime fiction is anything to go by, this is as untrue a stereotype as any other because this book really is very funny. Most of the humour comes with the dialogue between Inspector Van Veeteren and his police show more colleagues though Nesser even finds the funny in Mitter’s dreadful situation. Translator Laurie Thompson has once again done a great job of creating a very readable book which relies quite heavily on verbal jousting for its lighter moments.

Van Veeteren is a terrifically well-rounded character who gets depressed by the weather, plays badminton grudgingly and is, nineteen times out of twenty, very sure of his own ability to judge a person’s guilt or innocence by little more than the tilt of their head. His droll observations and quirks provide much of the humour in the book but he’s also intelligent and caring in a ‘blokey’ kind of way and I look forward to reading more of his adventures.

The book felt a little awkward at the outset with its court scenes at the beginning followed by a police investigation but turning the procedural upside down in this way worked well in the end. The uncovering of Mitter’s wife’s past is really done quite cleverly and offered a good deal of credible tension towards the climax of the book. I shall definitely be looking for book two in this series sooner rather than later. show less

At the heart of this novel is the story of a man who is being accused of murdering his wife. Unlike most detective novels, the first third of the book spends a fair amount of time in the mind of the accused. [a:Håkan Nesser|161054|Håkan Nesser|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1223193653p2/161054.jpg] writes in a way that made me root for the husband while still leaving some doubt in my mind as to if his claims of innocence deserved my belief. The middle section lags a bit, especially after the stelar opening, but the ending regains momentum and provides a great ending. This novel is translated from Swedish, and at times I caught my self turning back due to some ambiguity about who the book was focussing on at a particular moment. I show more would not, however, let the translation deter you from this book. If you are looking for something a bit different from the standard investigator novel, I would recommend [b:Mind's Eye|9882047|Mind's Eye (Inspector Van Veeteren Series #1)|Hakan Nesser|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg|14773914]. show less

First Line: He woke up and was unable to remember his name.

Nineteen times out of twenty, Inspector Van Veeteren knows when he's looking the perpetrator of a crime in the eye. There are countless tiny "tells" that alert him to a person's innocence or his guilt. When teacher Janek Mitter is sent to prison for the murder of his wife, Eva Ringmar, it turns out that this case was number twenty. When Mitter's memory begins to return, he is murdered before he can reveal the identity of the actual killer. Van Veeteren has to set the record straight, clear Mitter's name, and send the right person to prison.

Van Veeteren is a character I could get my teeth into and feel some empathy for, since endless overcast weather and darkness tend to depress show more both of us. Nesser's description brought him to life:

"He sat with his bulky body crouched over the cassette recorder, looking like a threatening and malicious trough of low pressure. His face was criss-crossed by small blue veins, many of them burst, and his expression was reminiscent of a petrified bloodhound. The only thing that moved was the toothpick, which wandered slowly from one side of his mouth to the other. He could talk without moving his lips, read without moving his eyes, yawn without opening his mouth. He was much more of a mummy than a person made up of flesh and blood."

The plot moves quickly as he tries to find the killer. Although I did find the identity of the murderer to be a bit of a letdown and the ending a little rushed, the bare bones of an excellent mystery series were there to be seen, and I look forward to reading more of Inspector Van Veeteren's adventures. show less

The Mind’s Eye by Hakan Nesser is the first in this author’s series about Swedish Chief Inspector Van Veeteren and his team and unfortunately I was rather disappointed with this book. I have been assured that the next book is much better which is a relief as I have it on my shelves. As this book won the 1993 Swedish Crime Writers Academy Prize, I am wondering whether my disconnect was because of the writer’s style or if the translation was the problem but the book felt very segmented, uneven and remote.

One thing I do take away from this book is that I believe I am going to like getting to know Inspector Van Veeteren. He is grumpy, rather depressed and works intuitively much to the chagrin of his team. Personally, I would have show more liked to have had a little more access to his thought process as this would have connected me to the story. The actual plot felt a little familiar, but the real star of the book was Inspector Van Veeteren, and I look forward to more of his brusque manner and insensitivity.

Although this is the first book in the series, it was not the first book to be translated which leads me to believe it is not considered the strongest of his books. Hopefully that is still in my future. show less

I really enjoyed this book. Great style and even though I had figured out who did it pretty early on - I couldn't figure out how it all went together or if my guess was right because the author kept throwing curveballs out to throw me off the scent. Quite enjoyable - will definately try another in the series.

This is actually the first installment in the series featuring Inspector Van Veeteren, set in Sweden, and it is a good one. I really love Nesser's books, having read the first three in the series so far (Mind's Eye, Borkmann's Point, The Return). In this debut (and you'll never believe it's the first of a series, it's that good), Van Veeteren takes the case of Janek Mitter, who wakes up one morning after a night of heavy drinking to find his wife Eva in the bathtub, dead. The only suspect is Mitter himself, who absolutely cannot remember a thing. Van Veeteren finds himself wondering if indeed Mitter was the culprit, especially after Mitter is found murdered in a hospital for the mentally ill, where he was imprisoned after his trial. Van show more Veeteren knows that the only way to get to the bottom of these crimes is to find out all he can about their past lives -- especially Eva's.

This book is one more in the wonderful set of mysteries written by Nesser. His writing is so good that he will hook you in the first few pages and not let you go until the book is finished.

I can very highly recommend this one to others who enjoy Scandinavian crime fiction, and to those who have read Nesser's other books. Mystery readers who want something different than the usual will also enjoy this book as well. show less