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Under the Snow
Under the Snow [paperback] Kerstin Ekman [Jan 01, 1997]
164 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1961
4 people are currently reading
402 people want to read
About the author
Kerstin Ekman
58 books264 followersKerstin Lillemor Ekman is a Swedish novelist.
She began her career with a string of successful detective novels (among others De tre små mästarna ("The Three Little Masters") and Dödsklockan ("The Death Clock")) but later went on to persue psychological and social themes. Among her later works are Mörker och blåbärsris ("Darkness and Blueberries"), set in northern Sweden, and Händelser vid vatten (translated as Blackwater), in which she returned to the form of the detective novel.
Ekman was elected a member of the Swedish Academy in 1978, but left the Academy in 1989, together with Lars Gyllensten and Werner Aspenström, due to the debate following death threats posed to Salman Rushdie. According to the rules of the Academy, however, she will remain a passive member for the entirety of her life.
She began her career with a string of successful detective novels (among others De tre små mästarna ("The Three Little Masters") and Dödsklockan ("The Death Clock")) but later went on to persue psychological and social themes. Among her later works are Mörker och blåbärsris ("Darkness and Blueberries"), set in northern Sweden, and Händelser vid vatten (translated as Blackwater), in which she returned to the form of the detective novel.
Ekman was elected a member of the Swedish Academy in 1978, but left the Academy in 1989, together with Lars Gyllensten and Werner Aspenström, due to the debate following death threats posed to Salman Rushdie. According to the rules of the Academy, however, she will remain a passive member for the entirety of her life.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
December 16, 2018
A very early Nordic Noir novel. (See my blurb on Nordic Noir at the end of this review.) It’s translated from the Swedish and set in northern Sweden, in Lapland, but the folks in the story are speaking Finnish or their native Sami language.
It’s very much an environmental novel. The wind, sleet, rain and fog are so constant that they are almost like a character in the story. Despite the midnight sun (that appears to drive some people crazy), it’s always cold at night. We’re so far north of the center of gravity of urban civilization that the tiny village where the crime was committed has to be reached first by the ‘most northerly road in the world,’ then a ferry, and then a 15-mile cross-county ski trip – quite a challenge for our police detective whose main quirk is that he’s built like a beached whale.
The story: an artist in this remote village appears to have gone nuts; slashed his paintings, and then killed himself, We suspect that is not really the case or we wouldn’t have a detective story. But our local detective, kind of a lackadaisical guy, investigated the scene six months ago and more-or-less accepted that story and went back to his office. Now along comes a former friend of the dead artist who entices the reluctant detective into going back to the village and taking a second look. Nothing is what it seemed of course.
What makes this detective story a bit different is that the dead artist’s friend is just about as good a detective as the guy on the public payroll. They argue about how to proceed on the case, and often go in different directions, with the real detective always ready to give up and head back to his comfortable office.
Along the way we learn a bit about the traditional Sami (formerly called Lapp) culture at least as it was almost sixty years ago -- this novel, although not translated into English until 1996, was written in 1961. We are correct in suspecting that very few Sami now live in smoke-filled tents following reindeer on skis. Many still herd reindeer but now use snowmobiles.
It’s a fun detective story, maybe a bit slow at times, fairly short, with a lot of local color and culture.
On Nordic Noir: from what I gather, the English-speaking world’s recognition of it as a genre probably began with Peter Hoeg’s Smilla’s Sense of Snow translated in 1992. The genre (sub-genre?) went into over-drive with Steig Larsson’s trilogy beginning with the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, translated 2008, and ending with The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, the most-sold book in the US in 2010. I suspect that the novel reviewed here, Under the Snow, 1996, was pulled out of mothballs after Smilla, since it was written in 1961. Ekman is now 85 years old (b. 1933) but she may still have more to offer us because it appears from what I can see on Goodreads that only a half-dozen or so of her 30+ books have been translated into English so far.
Another note: (the ‘geography prof’ in me keeps raising his ugly pedantic head, lol). The geographical term Lapland is still used but Sami is now the preferred term for the name of the people. “Lapp,” literally meaning a cloth patch, is now considered old fashioned at best and derogatory at worst. There’s an analogy here with the term “Oriental,” still appropriately used in a geographical sense or to refer to furniture or art, but no longer used to refer to Asian people.
Top photo of Sami people from thornews.com
Next 3 photos of Lapland from:
liverpoolairport.com
blacktomato.com
reasearchgate.net photo by Laura Forsstrom
Photo of the author from johanpalmgren.com
It’s very much an environmental novel. The wind, sleet, rain and fog are so constant that they are almost like a character in the story. Despite the midnight sun (that appears to drive some people crazy), it’s always cold at night. We’re so far north of the center of gravity of urban civilization that the tiny village where the crime was committed has to be reached first by the ‘most northerly road in the world,’ then a ferry, and then a 15-mile cross-county ski trip – quite a challenge for our police detective whose main quirk is that he’s built like a beached whale.
The story: an artist in this remote village appears to have gone nuts; slashed his paintings, and then killed himself, We suspect that is not really the case or we wouldn’t have a detective story. But our local detective, kind of a lackadaisical guy, investigated the scene six months ago and more-or-less accepted that story and went back to his office. Now along comes a former friend of the dead artist who entices the reluctant detective into going back to the village and taking a second look. Nothing is what it seemed of course.
What makes this detective story a bit different is that the dead artist’s friend is just about as good a detective as the guy on the public payroll. They argue about how to proceed on the case, and often go in different directions, with the real detective always ready to give up and head back to his comfortable office.
Along the way we learn a bit about the traditional Sami (formerly called Lapp) culture at least as it was almost sixty years ago -- this novel, although not translated into English until 1996, was written in 1961. We are correct in suspecting that very few Sami now live in smoke-filled tents following reindeer on skis. Many still herd reindeer but now use snowmobiles.
It’s a fun detective story, maybe a bit slow at times, fairly short, with a lot of local color and culture.
On Nordic Noir: from what I gather, the English-speaking world’s recognition of it as a genre probably began with Peter Hoeg’s Smilla’s Sense of Snow translated in 1992. The genre (sub-genre?) went into over-drive with Steig Larsson’s trilogy beginning with the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, translated 2008, and ending with The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, the most-sold book in the US in 2010. I suspect that the novel reviewed here, Under the Snow, 1996, was pulled out of mothballs after Smilla, since it was written in 1961. Ekman is now 85 years old (b. 1933) but she may still have more to offer us because it appears from what I can see on Goodreads that only a half-dozen or so of her 30+ books have been translated into English so far.
Another note: (the ‘geography prof’ in me keeps raising his ugly pedantic head, lol). The geographical term Lapland is still used but Sami is now the preferred term for the name of the people. “Lapp,” literally meaning a cloth patch, is now considered old fashioned at best and derogatory at worst. There’s an analogy here with the term “Oriental,” still appropriately used in a geographical sense or to refer to furniture or art, but no longer used to refer to Asian people.
Top photo of Sami people from thornews.com
Next 3 photos of Lapland from:
liverpoolairport.com
blacktomato.com
reasearchgate.net photo by Laura Forsstrom
Photo of the author from johanpalmgren.com
October 8, 2014
Under the Snow stretches the police procedural genre--or rather, freezes it--to fit its setting: a tiny Sami village on the Arctic circle in Norbotten County, the northernmost county of Sweden. Constable Bengt Torsson is called to investigate the death of art teacher Matti Olsson, at the small Rakisjokk Nomad School, situated at the far west end of a long, narrow lake. The school exists only for the Sami children, and the few Swedish people in the village are those doing weather measurements, teaching at the school, or managing the occasional tourist trade. This setting couldn’t be more different from that in another Swedish detective novel, The Laughing Policeman by Sjöwall and Wahlöö, which took place in the crowded urban setting of Stockholm. The crimes in that novel took place on a double decker bus, whereas the only ready transportation to reach the Rakisjokk school is a set of skis! Torsson must ski across the frozen lake in March, with his guide Henrik Vuori, to begin his investigation. Ekman’s descriptions are as stark as the setting and she has a talent for making striking observations.
"The glow from the ceiling light in its upper hall was the first gleam of life Constable Torsson saw as he and Vuori approached the village in the dead, dark gray dawn over the lake." (p. 8)
"The shed [where the victim had been laid] seemed mostly filled with the kind of things that couldn’t be seen. The shifting patches of light were insufficient. The wind was nosing through the cracks and whistling greedily." (p. 10)
"He [Matti] didn’t look as if he’d received a blow. What had he died of? Torsson wondered. There were no rules here. He could have died of anything. Of the darkness." (p. 11)
Ekman describes every sound, the crunching of snow underfoot, lungs puffing in the cold--even the sound as one man rubbed the stubble on his face with a calloused hand. It was just that quiet in the schoolroom where the teachers and villagers assembled to tell him their version of what had happened. There was Sjögren, the climatologist, who fought with Matti after a birthday party given for him; too much alcohol was involved. There was Anna Ryd, a beautiful auburn-haired Swedish woman who had been Matti’s girlfriend. In her grief, she maintained a "paralyzing silence" while the story was told. There were Pers-Anders Jerf and his sister Kristina Maria--Sami people whose taciturn father Edvin lived in a tent by himself away from the village. There were Vuori and his wife Marta, an imposing, unreadable woman. Torsson listened to them all, but somehow could not take them in; he felt numbed and strange, as if they were waiting, expressionless, and watching him:
"As they stood there beneath the naked bulb, in woolen shawls and caps with earflaps, they seemed to him nothing but eyes. He couldn’t keep them apart, almost confusing the dark, chubby Kristina Maria Jerf, Per-Anders’s sister, with the tall Marta Vuori. They took their time scanning his face." (p. 14)
According to them, an intoxicated Matti had simply wandered out into the snow and died before they discovered him the next morning. Torsson stayed on several days and found some evidence that didn’t seem to fit this simple picture--a mah jongg tile stained with blood, for example--and he painstakingly interviewed all those connected with Matti, but in the end, he couldn’t bring it into clear focus and went away unsatisfied.
A few months later, in July, one of Matti’s friends, David Malm, decided to visit his friend unexpectedly. On his way to Rakisjokk he encountered Anna Ryd who seemed to be in a hurry to leave--all she had in her car was a bark knapsack. Her car had hit a reindeer, and he tried to help her. She flatly told him Matti was dead, with a warning to turn around and forget about inquiring any further: “He wasn’t what you thought he was” was her only explanation.
David sought out Torsson and persuaded him to return to Rakisjokk to confront the evidence that didn’t add up and discover the truth. David is an eccentric character himself--like Hamlet, he feigns a bit of madness to shake people up and shake out their secrets. The pace of this already taut story really picks up from here on. It may seem as if I’ve told a lot of spoilers, but what I’ve described so far is all over in the first third of the book--much more will happen and be revealed.
Despite this book's title and my expectations, the descriptions of extreme cold were not its most prominent feature for me. Rather, the wound-up emotional tension and fear of discovery were even more palpable. Imagine an English country house murder being transported to a wilderness schoolroom with few comforts, except for ever-present hot coffee and layers of thick clothing, but the people inhabiting it were just as tight-lipped. Torsson is not a Poirot laying out the single-handed solution with a dramatic flourish, but rather a persistent facilitator of the truth, which emerges when some of the participants become ready to face it.
Ekman has such a sure hand with her prose that one genre is not enough! She has given a fascinating video interview where she describes her philosophy of writing and her experiments with several genres. I look forward to exploring some of her other novels, which include fantasy (The Forest Of Hours), historical fiction (God's Mercy), and more mystery (Blackwater).
I read this book for the FrightFall readathon at Seasons of Reading. The full review appears at my blog Northern Lights Reading Project.
"The glow from the ceiling light in its upper hall was the first gleam of life Constable Torsson saw as he and Vuori approached the village in the dead, dark gray dawn over the lake." (p. 8)
"The shed [where the victim had been laid] seemed mostly filled with the kind of things that couldn’t be seen. The shifting patches of light were insufficient. The wind was nosing through the cracks and whistling greedily." (p. 10)
"He [Matti] didn’t look as if he’d received a blow. What had he died of? Torsson wondered. There were no rules here. He could have died of anything. Of the darkness." (p. 11)
Ekman describes every sound, the crunching of snow underfoot, lungs puffing in the cold--even the sound as one man rubbed the stubble on his face with a calloused hand. It was just that quiet in the schoolroom where the teachers and villagers assembled to tell him their version of what had happened. There was Sjögren, the climatologist, who fought with Matti after a birthday party given for him; too much alcohol was involved. There was Anna Ryd, a beautiful auburn-haired Swedish woman who had been Matti’s girlfriend. In her grief, she maintained a "paralyzing silence" while the story was told. There were Pers-Anders Jerf and his sister Kristina Maria--Sami people whose taciturn father Edvin lived in a tent by himself away from the village. There were Vuori and his wife Marta, an imposing, unreadable woman. Torsson listened to them all, but somehow could not take them in; he felt numbed and strange, as if they were waiting, expressionless, and watching him:
"As they stood there beneath the naked bulb, in woolen shawls and caps with earflaps, they seemed to him nothing but eyes. He couldn’t keep them apart, almost confusing the dark, chubby Kristina Maria Jerf, Per-Anders’s sister, with the tall Marta Vuori. They took their time scanning his face." (p. 14)
According to them, an intoxicated Matti had simply wandered out into the snow and died before they discovered him the next morning. Torsson stayed on several days and found some evidence that didn’t seem to fit this simple picture--a mah jongg tile stained with blood, for example--and he painstakingly interviewed all those connected with Matti, but in the end, he couldn’t bring it into clear focus and went away unsatisfied.
A few months later, in July, one of Matti’s friends, David Malm, decided to visit his friend unexpectedly. On his way to Rakisjokk he encountered Anna Ryd who seemed to be in a hurry to leave--all she had in her car was a bark knapsack. Her car had hit a reindeer, and he tried to help her. She flatly told him Matti was dead, with a warning to turn around and forget about inquiring any further: “He wasn’t what you thought he was” was her only explanation.
David sought out Torsson and persuaded him to return to Rakisjokk to confront the evidence that didn’t add up and discover the truth. David is an eccentric character himself--like Hamlet, he feigns a bit of madness to shake people up and shake out their secrets. The pace of this already taut story really picks up from here on. It may seem as if I’ve told a lot of spoilers, but what I’ve described so far is all over in the first third of the book--much more will happen and be revealed.
Despite this book's title and my expectations, the descriptions of extreme cold were not its most prominent feature for me. Rather, the wound-up emotional tension and fear of discovery were even more palpable. Imagine an English country house murder being transported to a wilderness schoolroom with few comforts, except for ever-present hot coffee and layers of thick clothing, but the people inhabiting it were just as tight-lipped. Torsson is not a Poirot laying out the single-handed solution with a dramatic flourish, but rather a persistent facilitator of the truth, which emerges when some of the participants become ready to face it.
Ekman has such a sure hand with her prose that one genre is not enough! She has given a fascinating video interview where she describes her philosophy of writing and her experiments with several genres. I look forward to exploring some of her other novels, which include fantasy (The Forest Of Hours), historical fiction (God's Mercy), and more mystery (Blackwater).
I read this book for the FrightFall readathon at Seasons of Reading. The full review appears at my blog Northern Lights Reading Project.
July 9, 2017
If you can't think of anything good to say, say nothing.
Three hours later....
That didn't last long, I have to say something. I gather this is a first novel, maybe it's also her worst. I felt like the characters were largely names with adjectives added to them. None of them felt real or fleshed out. It has the virtue of being short, but despite that I'm afraid I skimmed the last third, having lost patience with it by then. I would have made a bad Sámi.
Three hours later....
That didn't last long, I have to say something. I gather this is a first novel, maybe it's also her worst. I felt like the characters were largely names with adjectives added to them. None of them felt real or fleshed out. It has the virtue of being short, but despite that I'm afraid I skimmed the last third, having lost patience with it by then. I would have made a bad Sámi.
April 25, 2012
Written in 1961, another book like Blackwater set in a closed rural community in Northern Sweden. As always Ekman's descriptions of the natural world are second to none. The main protagonist David an eccentric artist is almost comic, especially when paired with the over-weight policeman Torsson. But this is far more than a detective novel, indeed the detection almost happens by accident. A slow unravelling that finally reveals the truth.
January 5, 2015
This is as much a mystery as it is a learning about a culture. It IS a mystery - Matti was found dead under the snow under suspicious circumstances and Aili is missing - in a Sami village in the north pole winter
I admit I had a difficult time understanding what was going on at first - but once I caught on to the wording and thought processes, I really enjoyed the book. I felt transported to another way of life - where people live in the cold dark winter and live in a closed society - with their own ways and secrets.
I admit I had a difficult time understanding what was going on at first - but once I caught on to the wording and thought processes, I really enjoyed the book. I felt transported to another way of life - where people live in the cold dark winter and live in a closed society - with their own ways and secrets.
February 14, 2013
This was a strange little book. Set in a small rural Finnish community, a young man is found dead in the snow. The investigation concludes that he died of exposure after becoming drunk and falling asleep in the freezing cold.
Six months later a friend of his arrives to discover his death and reopens the investigation. It appears that the whole community is keeping a huge secret about what happened. Apart from that not a lot happens, there seems to be a lot of walking up the hill and walking down the hill. Then a bit more walking up the hill and walking down the hill. People watching other people. Then some more walking up the hill and walking down the hill, until eventually someone lets something slip and the killer is revealed.
In my opinion this was a bad translation from the original, there was confusion over which character was speaking at times, or even which characters were in the scene! Some of the vocabulary was a bit odd too.
Thankfully it is a short book, so it doesn't drag on for ever and ever.
Six months later a friend of his arrives to discover his death and reopens the investigation. It appears that the whole community is keeping a huge secret about what happened. Apart from that not a lot happens, there seems to be a lot of walking up the hill and walking down the hill. Then a bit more walking up the hill and walking down the hill. People watching other people. Then some more walking up the hill and walking down the hill, until eventually someone lets something slip and the killer is revealed.
In my opinion this was a bad translation from the original, there was confusion over which character was speaking at times, or even which characters were in the scene! Some of the vocabulary was a bit odd too.
Thankfully it is a short book, so it doesn't drag on for ever and ever.
May 27, 2023
Rörig och med för många perspektiv.
August 5, 2023
Finurlig. Bra tidsbild från nordligaste Sverige
January 30, 2017
I selected this book, Under the Snow because I felt as though I needed to explore the mystery genre of books again. As a kid some of my favorite books were mysteries, and I hoped I would resurface my enjoyment for them. I also selected this book because it wasn't too long and I needed a book that didn't drag on. It was a good thing this book was indeed short though, as I did not resurface my love for mysteries through this particular book. The book did have the aspects of mystery which I appreciated and expected, as it is entitled to the mystery genre. However, other aspects of the book didn't allow me to enjoy it. The vocabulary and wording in the book threw me off quite often and I found I spent more times wondering about names of people than actually enjoying the plot. Now that I have gotten these kinks out of the way, I'll say that the story started off well, having the death of a man investigated usually makes a good mystery. Although it may fall under the cliche, who doesn't enjoy a murder investigation?? at least when it's a story! Anyways, as the investigation takes place, I didn't find myself eager to flip the page due to the fact that the story didn't contain the needed mystery aspects. It consisted of a lot of the same thing, until the truth was finally revealed. I nearly gave up on the book and anyone thinking about reading it, I would suggest only do so if you like being confused about where characters are and who said what. Maybe that was the mystery we were trying to solve?
January 9, 2021
altamente sconsigliabile.
December 11, 2023
Visit JetBlackDragonfly (The Man Who Read Too Much) at www.edenthompson.ca/blog
Under The Snow is a unique mystery set in Norrbotten, the northern area where Sweden and Finland share a border. The languages of Swedish, Finnish and the local Sami blend together and the legacy of nomadic Sami ancestors and reindeer hunting is still palpable.
Constable Torsson is called up north to the small community of Rakisjokk - taking several hours to Orjas, and then a twenty-five km ski over the frozen Rakisuare lake in the deep winter where the sun does not rise. Enclosed by mountains, connected to civilization by a weather station, one of the community has frozen to death one late night; Matti was found the next day and stored in a shed. Torsson is told there was drinking, a fight, and Matti wandered out alone. The case is closed.
Summer arrives, with endless sun and long light-filled nights making it difficult to sleep. Although everyone has plans to leave this place, including Torsson, something holds them over Summer. David Malm arrives to visit his distant friend Matti, not knowing he passed, and makes a good team investigating with Torsson. They discover Matti died several days earlier than stated - more a murder than death by exposure - and the towns secrets reawaken. There is the mystery of Aili, a young girl who wandered into the mountains, never to be seen again. There is Per-Anders father who has renounced the village to live off the land in an ancestral hut, and there is Eric Sjogren, who believes he caused Matti's death. There are only a handful of residents to question, a tight knit group who try to obfuscate the investigation by speaking in Finnish or Sami - not knowing that Torsson can indeed understand all that is being said.
This has a great sense of place, a remote location, and buried secrets from years past. The combination of Torsson and David as the outsiders serves the reader well. They discover with us the history of the land, a far outpost where your eyes adjust to months of darkness, and your body to months of never-ending day. One criticism would be the names. Two women involved are both named Anna (Anna Ryd and Anna Salminen), and Per-Anders Jerf is referred to as Per-Anders, Jerf or Per-Anti - sometimes making it confusing. It was nevertheless interesting all the way, the solution rather common for the exotic locale - showing that human desires are the same the world over.
Kerstin Ekman is an eminent Swedish novelist, and this wintery mystery is recommended.
Under The Snow is a unique mystery set in Norrbotten, the northern area where Sweden and Finland share a border. The languages of Swedish, Finnish and the local Sami blend together and the legacy of nomadic Sami ancestors and reindeer hunting is still palpable.
Constable Torsson is called up north to the small community of Rakisjokk - taking several hours to Orjas, and then a twenty-five km ski over the frozen Rakisuare lake in the deep winter where the sun does not rise. Enclosed by mountains, connected to civilization by a weather station, one of the community has frozen to death one late night; Matti was found the next day and stored in a shed. Torsson is told there was drinking, a fight, and Matti wandered out alone. The case is closed.
Summer arrives, with endless sun and long light-filled nights making it difficult to sleep. Although everyone has plans to leave this place, including Torsson, something holds them over Summer. David Malm arrives to visit his distant friend Matti, not knowing he passed, and makes a good team investigating with Torsson. They discover Matti died several days earlier than stated - more a murder than death by exposure - and the towns secrets reawaken. There is the mystery of Aili, a young girl who wandered into the mountains, never to be seen again. There is Per-Anders father who has renounced the village to live off the land in an ancestral hut, and there is Eric Sjogren, who believes he caused Matti's death. There are only a handful of residents to question, a tight knit group who try to obfuscate the investigation by speaking in Finnish or Sami - not knowing that Torsson can indeed understand all that is being said.
This has a great sense of place, a remote location, and buried secrets from years past. The combination of Torsson and David as the outsiders serves the reader well. They discover with us the history of the land, a far outpost where your eyes adjust to months of darkness, and your body to months of never-ending day. One criticism would be the names. Two women involved are both named Anna (Anna Ryd and Anna Salminen), and Per-Anders Jerf is referred to as Per-Anders, Jerf or Per-Anti - sometimes making it confusing. It was nevertheless interesting all the way, the solution rather common for the exotic locale - showing that human desires are the same the world over.
Kerstin Ekman is an eminent Swedish novelist, and this wintery mystery is recommended.
December 16, 2025
WHY I CHOSE THIS BOOK0
Under the Snow is a book that takes place in Rakisjokk, Sweden. It is a remote and northern village and not much goes on there except for now, the murder. I feel like I never read murder mystery books, and I wanted to see what they are all about. What helped me single out this book is that it takes place in a snowy, remote village. I was instantly drawn to this book because it's a new genre, and I have a special place in my heart for the snow.
A phone call rings from out of town, as the dial is picked up, a hurried voice says, ¨Matti Olsson is dead¨. As news spreads, an investigation grows for the killer among us. Constable Torroson is chosen to be the lead man for the investigation. As word spreads out of town, Matti's old friend David finds out what has happened. He feels as if its only right to visit Rakisjokk and help with the investigation. As he is driving north to the town, a car heading out of Rakisjokk smashes into a Reindeer. David feels the need to get out and help the lady. David goes as far as taking her luggage and taking her back to Rakisjokk to tidy up. The lady´s name is Anna Ryd, and she is an English teacher in Rakisjokk. She knew who Matti was because he was an art teacher.
Tirelessly, the investigations continue with Torroson and David leading the way. It took until the middle of the story to uncover a huge secret about the case. The rest of the way was detail after detail being exposed, and the secrets that had been hidden were now coming to light. Eventually, the suspect is found and proven to be the murderer. The whole time, the killer was in the town living scotch free. Not a care in their world was to be given.
The most dynamic character, which is a character who changes over the course of the story, is David. When the investigations and searches began in Rakisjokk at the start of the story, David only wanted to do things his way. Whatever Torroson wanted to do, David didn't. He believed that because he used to be Matti´s best friend, he would know exactly what was going on. As the story progressed, he put his beliefs slowly and surely away once Constable Torroson caught a lead around the middle of the story. David´s mindset and goals switched from being one dimensional to hearing out others on the murder case.
Under the Snow is a book that takes place in Rakisjokk, Sweden. It is a remote and northern village and not much goes on there except for now, the murder. I feel like I never read murder mystery books, and I wanted to see what they are all about. What helped me single out this book is that it takes place in a snowy, remote village. I was instantly drawn to this book because it's a new genre, and I have a special place in my heart for the snow.
A phone call rings from out of town, as the dial is picked up, a hurried voice says, ¨Matti Olsson is dead¨. As news spreads, an investigation grows for the killer among us. Constable Torroson is chosen to be the lead man for the investigation. As word spreads out of town, Matti's old friend David finds out what has happened. He feels as if its only right to visit Rakisjokk and help with the investigation. As he is driving north to the town, a car heading out of Rakisjokk smashes into a Reindeer. David feels the need to get out and help the lady. David goes as far as taking her luggage and taking her back to Rakisjokk to tidy up. The lady´s name is Anna Ryd, and she is an English teacher in Rakisjokk. She knew who Matti was because he was an art teacher.
Tirelessly, the investigations continue with Torroson and David leading the way. It took until the middle of the story to uncover a huge secret about the case. The rest of the way was detail after detail being exposed, and the secrets that had been hidden were now coming to light. Eventually, the suspect is found and proven to be the murderer. The whole time, the killer was in the town living scotch free. Not a care in their world was to be given.
The most dynamic character, which is a character who changes over the course of the story, is David. When the investigations and searches began in Rakisjokk at the start of the story, David only wanted to do things his way. Whatever Torroson wanted to do, David didn't. He believed that because he used to be Matti´s best friend, he would know exactly what was going on. As the story progressed, he put his beliefs slowly and surely away once Constable Torroson caught a lead around the middle of the story. David´s mindset and goals switched from being one dimensional to hearing out others on the murder case.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 15, 2019
Jag har inte läst mycket Kerstin Ekman. Jag tycker hon är lite jobbig. Å andra sidan har jag endast läst två av hennes tidiga böcker - både 'deckare'. Dödsklockan läste jag för många år sedan och denna läste jag nu.
Här finns en polis, ett brott - t.o.m. ett mord - samt misstänkta och även en amatör detektiv. Däremot kan jag inte kalla boken för 'deckare'. Den är på för stort allvar. Personerna är svåra att hålla isär men ändå väldigt individuella. jag skulle ha behövt en Kindle Xray för att snabbt kunna komma ihåg en karaktär när de plötsligt dyker upp igen efter 30 eller 40 sidor. jag skulle behövt en svensk Kindle för att kunna slå upp alla okända ord jag stötte på samt alla översättningar av uttryck på finska.
I en liten by norr om polcirkeln, vid en sjö, under fjällen, dör en slöjdlärare. Det är i iskall vintermörker och poliskonstapel Torsson måste skida över isen för att ta sig dit. Folket i byn ljuger om när läraren dog och hur det gick till, men trots vissa misstankar tillskrivs saken som dödsolycka. Karlen var ju full och somnade i snön.
Sommaren efter kommer plötsligt offrets vän - David, en konstnär - för att söka upp sin gamla kurskamrat. Han tror inte på olyckan. Polisen Torsson är inte heller nöjd med att fallet har lagts ner. De ger sig av till byn. Hetta och mygg, plötsliga kalla skurar, blåst, men sedan återkommer hettan och den eviga solsken. Kerstin Ekman är duktig på att skildra miljöer, kalla slöjdsalar, en rökig kåta men framförallt utemiljöer: fjällen med myrar och stenskrammel, skogen och sjön. Jag tycker det blir ofta för intensiv. Man får uppleva så mycket mer än själva deckargåtan. På gott och ont. Detta är en roman och inte en 'deckare'. Här finns en liten kärlekshistoria, familjedrama, sorg, skuld, ånger, förlust.
Och som roman är det ganska intressant, om krävande. Som 'deckare' kan det faktiskt också fungera om läsaren är riktigt uppmärksam. Ledtrådar finns utlagda men så mycket annat finns utlagd att de försvinner. Slutet blir plötsligt en thriller. Och rättvisan skipas.
Titeln är riktigt usel! Den väcker tankar och funderingar som bara blir till luft.
Här finns en polis, ett brott - t.o.m. ett mord - samt misstänkta och även en amatör detektiv. Däremot kan jag inte kalla boken för 'deckare'. Den är på för stort allvar. Personerna är svåra att hålla isär men ändå väldigt individuella. jag skulle ha behövt en Kindle Xray för att snabbt kunna komma ihåg en karaktär när de plötsligt dyker upp igen efter 30 eller 40 sidor. jag skulle behövt en svensk Kindle för att kunna slå upp alla okända ord jag stötte på samt alla översättningar av uttryck på finska.
I en liten by norr om polcirkeln, vid en sjö, under fjällen, dör en slöjdlärare. Det är i iskall vintermörker och poliskonstapel Torsson måste skida över isen för att ta sig dit. Folket i byn ljuger om när läraren dog och hur det gick till, men trots vissa misstankar tillskrivs saken som dödsolycka. Karlen var ju full och somnade i snön.
Sommaren efter kommer plötsligt offrets vän - David, en konstnär - för att söka upp sin gamla kurskamrat. Han tror inte på olyckan. Polisen Torsson är inte heller nöjd med att fallet har lagts ner. De ger sig av till byn. Hetta och mygg, plötsliga kalla skurar, blåst, men sedan återkommer hettan och den eviga solsken. Kerstin Ekman är duktig på att skildra miljöer, kalla slöjdsalar, en rökig kåta men framförallt utemiljöer: fjällen med myrar och stenskrammel, skogen och sjön. Jag tycker det blir ofta för intensiv. Man får uppleva så mycket mer än själva deckargåtan. På gott och ont. Detta är en roman och inte en 'deckare'. Här finns en liten kärlekshistoria, familjedrama, sorg, skuld, ånger, förlust.
Och som roman är det ganska intressant, om krävande. Som 'deckare' kan det faktiskt också fungera om läsaren är riktigt uppmärksam. Ledtrådar finns utlagda men så mycket annat finns utlagd att de försvinner. Slutet blir plötsligt en thriller. Och rättvisan skipas.
Titeln är riktigt usel! Den väcker tankar och funderingar som bara blir till luft.
December 5, 2022
3.5*
This Nordic mystery is an intriguing read straight from the initial phone call made by Henrik Vuori to the police informing them that a man, Matti Olson, had died following an argument with Erik Sjögren.
Constable Torsson gets to Rakisjokh, 65 kilometres away via Orjas with a final leg of 25 kilo on skis. Torsson spends some time finding out what happened, interviewing people and checking out various locations. He believes that he is not getting the full story especially when he finds a mahjong tile with blood on it in the school hall. It doesn’t correspond to what he has been told. Once the group he has been interviewing clam up he’s unable to get any further with his investigation and returns to the police station putting the case to one side.
Months later a friend of Matti Olson, David Malm, meets Anna Ryd, the English teacher and Olsons girlfriend, on his way to visit Olson. He gives her a lift so she can report the accident she had to the police. She tells David that Matti has died.
Torsson is about to go on holiday but is intrigued by Malm who, having found out more about Matti’s death, insists he must have been killed. So back to Rakisjokh he goes with Malm.
This time around the truth will be revealed but not before David, who is a slightly odd but quite likeable character, finds himself in some hot water.
I very much enjoyed this slow to boil murder mystery. The setting was as uncompromising as Torsson’s belief that there was more to what had happened than he could initially find out. The circumstances behind what happened were not entirely unknown or wrong but certain actions were made to lead everyone, not just the police, to a completely different conclusion. Indeed, if it had not been for David Malm coming to visit his friend the truth may never have been uncovered.
Read for #NovNov22.
This Nordic mystery is an intriguing read straight from the initial phone call made by Henrik Vuori to the police informing them that a man, Matti Olson, had died following an argument with Erik Sjögren.
Constable Torsson gets to Rakisjokh, 65 kilometres away via Orjas with a final leg of 25 kilo on skis. Torsson spends some time finding out what happened, interviewing people and checking out various locations. He believes that he is not getting the full story especially when he finds a mahjong tile with blood on it in the school hall. It doesn’t correspond to what he has been told. Once the group he has been interviewing clam up he’s unable to get any further with his investigation and returns to the police station putting the case to one side.
Months later a friend of Matti Olson, David Malm, meets Anna Ryd, the English teacher and Olsons girlfriend, on his way to visit Olson. He gives her a lift so she can report the accident she had to the police. She tells David that Matti has died.
Torsson is about to go on holiday but is intrigued by Malm who, having found out more about Matti’s death, insists he must have been killed. So back to Rakisjokh he goes with Malm.
This time around the truth will be revealed but not before David, who is a slightly odd but quite likeable character, finds himself in some hot water.
I very much enjoyed this slow to boil murder mystery. The setting was as uncompromising as Torsson’s belief that there was more to what had happened than he could initially find out. The circumstances behind what happened were not entirely unknown or wrong but certain actions were made to lead everyone, not just the police, to a completely different conclusion. Indeed, if it had not been for David Malm coming to visit his friend the truth may never have been uncovered.
Read for #NovNov22.
July 19, 2020
2.5 stars. A strange mystery set in the remote northern village of Rakisjokk, either in or very near Finland, near the Arctic Circle, with dark winters and light summers. Constable Torsson from Orjas investigates the death of an artist, Matti, with not much result, then returns to the town a few months later with David Malm, an artist friend of Matti's, after some new evidence (perhaps) comes to light. I got lost along the way, distracted by the shooting of two reindeer, the missing mah-jongg tile and the other painted tiles, the former passesadie ('place of sacrifice'), the noose with dark hair, and so on. Felt extremely disjointed to the point of nonsensical to me. Others laud it as irresistible, engrossing, thrilling (never, IMO), taut, and so on. I liked her Blackwater but just couldn't get on board here. It was atmospheric, I have to give it that.
February 11, 2019
See Lucy's review, although it's SOOO long!
I was put off by the translation / translator's odd use of wording in places The words were just NOT correct, and that hugely negatively-impacted the story. The gentle, plodding detective and his coffee cup, I really enjoyed; I'd like to read more about him. One of my hats says "But First, Coffee". However, Ms. Elman's portrayal of the people and the cold, wintry scenes in the area is so realistic, it quickly submerses the reader in the genre of the impossibly long nights and the people who endure them. Why they didn't trust Constable Torsson in the first place, well, then there wouldn't have been this book, I suppose. A good read, for those who can persevere through the snowdrifts of obliterated English / American.
I was put off by the translation / translator's odd use of wording in places The words were just NOT correct, and that hugely negatively-impacted the story. The gentle, plodding detective and his coffee cup, I really enjoyed; I'd like to read more about him. One of my hats says "But First, Coffee". However, Ms. Elman's portrayal of the people and the cold, wintry scenes in the area is so realistic, it quickly submerses the reader in the genre of the impossibly long nights and the people who endure them. Why they didn't trust Constable Torsson in the first place, well, then there wouldn't have been this book, I suppose. A good read, for those who can persevere through the snowdrifts of obliterated English / American.
March 6, 2022
I suspect the main reason this book feels all over the place is the translation. It has some extraordinary moments, especially towards the beginning, and a cleverly executed twist ending that doesn’t feel gratuitous but it really all starts becoming wildly tough to read once Malm turns up. Suddenly it awkwardly pivots into eccentric amateur/ uptight police odd couple territory and becomes weirdly florid and unfocused. There’s all manner of unsuccessful comic business and I suspect the problem is the novel is being translated literally where the original might be using archetypes/ idioms to explain Malm’s character - he just seems to knock the tension off balance so the book just seems to lurch from one extreme to another. Very odd
April 11, 2022
Interesting adventures in a fascinating territory, but as a crime novel just a bit 'meh': the two male main characters play well, but the mystery was not compelling enough to me. I felt rather at loss with the characters, and even at the end, I didn't properly get who the murderer was and why the murder had happened, perhaps because of the translation, the novel, or my lack of skills in Nordic noir.
This was also the last book I read for my Glasgow book club, as they decided to move back offline. What a wonderful experience I enjoyed all these months
This was also the last book I read for my Glasgow book club, as they decided to move back offline. What a wonderful experience I enjoyed all these months
April 5, 2024
Unusual for me to not highly praise a Scandinavian novel that is billed as a "mystery." Indeed this book is a mystery but not in any conventional manner. Northern Sweden, a tiny town inhabited by Sami community. An outsider, an art teacher, has died under - of course - mysterious circumstances. It was very hard for me to like or even understand most of what happened - though the writing about the location and scenery is quite beautiful!
August 15, 2024
Det är som att jag tagit del av en låt som går i dur men verkligen borde vara moll. Läser jag fel? Och vad är det egentligen som händer i texten?
Trots att jag läste om flera partier så förstår jag inte. Jag hittar inget djup och jag är inte säker på att jag helt förstår handlingen. Men språket är fint, så alltid något.
Trots att jag läste om flera partier så förstår jag inte. Jag hittar inget djup och jag är inte säker på att jag helt förstår handlingen. Men språket är fint, så alltid något.
January 16, 2018
I feel like the translation was pretty clumsy, either that or everyone really does shout and roar and loudly exclaim throughout every conversation they have in Swedish. This certainly didn’t help the feeling of taking forever to read slash get to the point of any given moment.
April 19, 2019
Compelling vision of Lapland, the most interesting character in the book. Nice attempts at oddball humor which might have suffered from a clumsy translation, truncated ending. Still an interesting read, different from other police prodedurals.
May 9, 2019
A decent little murder mystery set in the snows of Scandinavia. The best part of the book is the asthmatic Constable Torsson who slowly puts the pieces together. The ending is a surprise, but it takes just a little too long in coming. Still not a bad read, especially if it's snowing
August 11, 2019
Although this book has been translated from Swedish to English, I still felt at times like I was reading a foreign language. The story has a sense of dislocation anyway, set in a remote community, and I found the whole thing confused. Good denouement, though!
April 3, 2022
Läser Kerstin Ekmans böcker i kronologisk ordning. De tidiga deckarna har varit ojämna och lider mer av att de har många år på nacken nu. Men i De tre små mästarna tycker jag det lyfter på ett helt annat sätt även om mötet med samisk kultur färgas av tiden.
July 30, 2024
Tämä dekkari on ilmestynyt vuonna 1963, mutta ei ole juurikaan vanhentunut sisällöltään. Samoja aineksia on moni nuorempikin kirjailija suosinut: pohjoisen lumo, sikäläisten asukkaiden outo kieli ja oudot tavat, vaikeneminen...
July 20, 2017
Seems like a clumsy translation.
June 21, 2021
This was so dense, slow and mystifying that I felt I did not have enough patience to stay with it. Sorry. DNF
May 25, 2022
Possibly the translation, but i found this virtually unreadable, very odd turn of phrase and the plot dragged despite it being such a short book. Avoid!
August 20, 2022
hard to follow and confusing dialogue. not sure if there's even been a crime until very late in the narrative but good evocation of interesting setting
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