Porcelánový koník z dynastie Tchang

Inspector Huss #1

by Helene Tursten, Helene Turstenová

Román švédské královny detektivek. Další případ inspektorky Ireny Hussové.
Nikdo nezahlédl jeho pád tmavým listopadovým večerem. Tělo Richarda von Knechta se roztříštilo na mokré dlažbě. Záhy se ukáže, že nešlo o sebevraždu. Tento šedesátiletý přitažlivý muž patřil mezi největší boháče ve Švédsku a nejváženější muže v zemi. Vraždu okamžitě začne vyšetřovat tým göteborské policie v čele s komisařem Anderssonem a inspektorkou Irenou Hussovou. Byly motivem vraždy peníze, nenávist, nebo něco jiného?

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Sweden, Scandinavian Literature, Mystery Thriller, Thriller

475 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Helene Tursten (born in Gothenburg in 1954) is a Swedish writer of crime fiction. The main character in her stories is Detective Inspector Irene Huss. Before becoming an author, Tursten worked as a nurse and then a dentist, but was forced to leave due to illness. During her illness she worked as a translator of medical articles.

Series:
* Irene Huss

Reviews

[Francis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't get why I liked this book so much?

Inspector Huss does not seem to have any essential character flaws. She has no hidden demons in her background. She loves and cares for her family and I think she prefers weekends to working. She's like so normal.

She goes to work with a bunch of normal acting people and they sit around and discuss cases while eating take-out pizza. Once in a while somebody may get beat-up by a motorcycle gang, puncture a lung, lose a kidney or something, but other than that, and then only occasionaly, pretty much normal.

The police work is tedious and you can hear the "oh Christ, not pizza again" chorus coming from each staff meeting. But, it is precisely because it's so normal, so true to life, that you believe, and because you believe, you get sucked into the story and then you feel your ribs hurt after each beating.

So, the characters are normal, but in a good way, not a one dimensional way and the story is actually very good. In fact the only bad thing, the only really sad thing ..was the pizza.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet another is the seemingly never ending stream of Scandinavian crime fiction. And this one by a female author. And a good thing too, as this is one of the best I've read of that genre.

This is the first installment of a series featuring detective Irene Huss, a thirty something mother, with a husband, two twin girls aged thirteen, and a dog. The book opens with one of Sweden's richest men falling to his death from his fifth floor apartment balcony. What originally looked liked suicide is very soon turned into a murder investigation. (This is not spoiler as it tells you this on the back of the book, plus it happens in the first few pages). The rest of the book is involved with the police trying to solve this murder, especially in why it happened.

The book is full of interesting characters: a nymphomaniac, Nazi skinheads, Hells Angels and more. I actually didn't know that the Hells Angels were to be found in Europe. Also, the book doesn't take place in Stockholm, rather it is set in Goteborg, where the author lives. Another interesting fact that came to light was that the police in Sweden do carry guns, whereas in Norway and Iceland they do not.

All in all, a first class crime thriller, highly recommended. It's on to the next book for me.

[Deb Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hang on for a police procedural that begins in a tame enough fashion, but packs on the drama and tension as the plot moves forward. The further along Detective Inspector Irene Huss and her team go into investigating the murder of a wealthy man thrown from his own balcony, the more complex the details become.

I enjoyed the reading experience in this one and look forward to becoming better acquainted with the main characters in the next of the Inspector Huss series.

[M.J. Fiori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was happy to pick up a female detective novel (centered around Detective Irene Huss, former Swedish national judo champion, now 35 and working homicide in Stockholm while raising twin teenage girls with her chef husband) from a mystery writer who was also a woman. What seemed at first like the usual "Schwedenkrimi" (as the Germans call it) was actually something much meatier. The meat was not in the whodunit itself, however, and it also took its sweet time emerging. It was that Helene Tursten actually captured the incremental nature - the slow burn - of the procedural in a way I have not yet seen carried off in print. And, not least, she wrote a book whose characters engage the reader more emotionally than usually seems to be the case in this genre.

False leads were followed - check. Detective work involved a great deal of drudgery and took some time - check. Working homicide was a team effort, with each team member playing his pertinent role - check. No grand genius cut to the heart of the matter in a flash of inspiration, but rather a competent (and quirky) group of professionals steadily chipped away at the mystery until it was solved. Irene Huss, though the center of the book, was never the only detective to do all the key interviews or end up in all the most important places at the important times. All of which made the story all the more credible. Of course, she had to be a bit predominant, quick on the pickup - mainly (in this book, at least) due to her emotional intelligence, though a bit of coincidence was also involved in a few plot points (though never incredibly). But then again, would it even be possible to have a lead genre character not present at the book's climax or somehow entangled in the main thread? A novel focused on and in fact named for a single character would make no sense if that character were not somehow the emotional heart of the book.

But in addition to her fidelity to believable procedure, Tursten demonstrated other virtues. She was, for instance, able to keep Irene as the book's "human touch" while allowing other characters to carry emotional resonance as well. I am thinking mainly of the surprising, interesting and affecting Holocaust/skinhead subplot that involved one of her daughters and one of her colleagues. It was at this point that I realized Detective Irene Huss was no standard-formula procedural. The book transcends genres and easy labels a bit. I am looking forward to reading more Irene Huss novels.

My only complaint would be that the translation, which seemed to be aimed at the UK market, was neither fish nor fowl. Some passages were very difficult to follow and obviously needed to be rethought and/or restructured in English for comprehension. A few notes (or even better, textual additions) might have helped for things unfamiliar to a non-Swedish audience. I say all this as a professional translator. An English translation for the UK can't simply be spell-checked in US English, repackaged and shipped out across America. This book, for various reasons (Helene Tursten's minimalist style of dialogue being one of them: it obfuscated even more for those who don't speak Swedish), really needs and deserves its own, completely new English translation for the U.S. market.

[Minty McBunny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Usually when I read a foreign book like this that has a good plot but awful writing, I feel safe in blaming the translator. But in this case I have read quite a few books translated by Steven T Murray that were flawless, so I think Helene Tursten is the problem.

I bought it because I'd heard the author's name mentioned in reviews of Karin Fossum and Asa Larsson, both of whom I adore. Not even close. The plot was fine, nothing unique or exciting, but sturdy enough to keep my interest. The dialogue is really what makes it painful! Everyone speaks like this! With exclamation points after each sentence! It gets really annoying! Especially when hardened detectives use terms like 'phooey'!

I don't see myself reading another D.I. Huss novel unless I'm hard up for entertainment.

[Diane Barnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

My local book club has one member who has a theme when it's her turn to assign a book. She always chooses the first novel of a detective series, lately from Nordic authors (her daughter-in-law is Norwegian), so this one hails from Sweden.

The first part of this police procedural was boring, then the action ramped up and it went quickly. The boredom for me sprang from endless department meetings, where the detectives go over what they have found so far and receive their next instructions. They eat lots of pizza, drink lots of coffee and beer (apparently that's okay in Sweden) and snipe at each other. The identity and motive of the killer is figured out pretty quickly, the difficulty is finding missing links and proving it. There are interesting side issues involving sexual harassment, skinheads and prejudice, and blindly following someone just to fit in.

Detective Huss is a 40 year old woman with two teenage daughters, a chef husband, and a demanding dog, trying to do a good job in her chosen career while coping with daily life and problems, so it was refreshing to read about a normal detective who wasn't battling inner demons or some strange personality quirk.

3 stars comes from my personal feeling about police procedural novels. Someone who likes this genre might well rate it higher.

[Mackey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a new series for me out of Sweden. It was a long read and at first it was a little difficult to get into the flow of the writing style. I suspect that may have more to do with the translation than the book itself. It was a superb, masterful mystery; a great police procedural and the topics covered everything from politics, economics, single parenting to skinheads. It was quite a ride. I've already started the next in the series!

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think my favorite television channel is MHZ because they have international mysteries. At first, they had Wallander and Varg Veum, and some werid Italian mystery were everyone was sleeping with everyone. Not only that, but the Detective mano couldn't figure out his partner's daughter was his, even though everyone watching knew within two secs. Eventually they changed the mysteries up and started showing other ones, including Irene Huss. The Irene Huss movies aren't my favorite. They are rather melo-dramatic, but I liked the character and the actress who plays her enough to try the book when Amazon put it on sale. (In fairness, Huss is better than the Detective Burno whoseit mysteries. Filmed in Venice, but done in German).


The book is, as always, better than the films, even though Sammie the dog is a different breed in the book. The mystery isn't as compelling or dark as say Rebus or Erlander. There is something to be said, however, for not being dark. This is the best aspect of the series. Irene has a dog, a husband, and two daughters. Is her life perfect? No, but her life is normal. And that is actually really good. She has a healthy home life and is good at her job. She isn't super, booze swilling detective genius, but she isn't dumb either. She is very skilled in judo, but she isn't super crime fighting butt kicking girl. And it is the mental as well as physical aspect of judo.

The character of Irene is really what rises the series.

[Ewa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Scandinavian crime fiction novels -- this one got a credible main character - DI Huss is so normal, and contemporary social and political issues are embedded within the story. I am looking forward to reading the second from this series.

[H. P. Reed · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is one of the most poorly written books I've ever started. 7 pages in is enough. But why am I beating on Helene Tursten for her first Inspector Huss novel? She's written more in the series and people have evidently bought them and read them. Some of our own folks here have written positive reviews. Here's my reasons: Scandanavian crime novel authors Jo Nesbo, Asa Larsson, Stieg Larsson, Henning Mankell et al. So much intense writing, so much attention to character development, such limpid prose. Not every writer can measure up to these authors' standards, but this book strikes too wide from the target. Don't take my word on this. Let me point out a few lines:

"She must have sighed audibly, because Superintendent Anderson turned to her and asked, "'Is something bothering you?'"
"No, it's nothing. It's depressing weather. Depressing, with scattered suicides. Depressing. Depressing." The superintendent nodded in agreement and stared gloomily at the black rain {note that this SHOULD be the end of the sentence but,sadly,is not} being flung against the windshield by the gusty wind." What a surprise: rain being flung against the windshield by wind and not by a gigantuan hairdryer.

The tone of each voice is so similar, often without emphasis and certainly without signature wording or behaviors, that they might be speaking for each other.
The actions of most characters, whether minor or major, are given a full if insipid descriptive force. Here, from the very first page after an unnamed man has fallen from a (What? We aren't told.):

"A man in a light-colored coat had just rushed around the car and opened the door on the passenger's side when the old lady with the dachshund started screaming. The man turned quickly, squinted through the rain, and caught sight of the heap nearly thirty meters away. He kept his grip on the door, slowly tilting his head back, and looked up at the top of the imposing apartment building. A faint moaning sound rose from his throat but he kept catatonically still." The man is already on the ground but OUR man in this sentence is faintly moaning at the top of the imposing building. Why? And why is the building imposing? Is it uber tall, is it decorated like a wedding cake, does it have gilded trim? And "catatonically" still?
I get that the author wants to emphasize stillness, but catatonia is also marked by repetitive small movements. The simple word "very" would suit and sound much better.
The next minute gives us a small woman getting out of her car and "running nimbly over to the motionless figure on the ground." Now get this "Her slenderness was emphasized by the stylish Chanel dress she was wearing." WHAT? Why do we care that she was wearing a Chanel dress? Is it important that she has self-indulgent tastes in clothing? Incongruous information like this detracts from the tension the author is trying to build. We've got a screaming old lady and her screaming dog, described as such earlier, plus another person faintly moaning in the background but we need to know about this lady's couture?
Incredibly, Miss Tursten has more to say about this well-dressed wonder woman. "She had mastered to perfection the art of running in high heels. She elbowed her way through the crowd frenetically and reached the inner circle." End of first page. I see this woman behaving like an unsettled stork, flapping through the crowd during a demonstration of her MASTERLY running in high heels. I've run in high heels and I was pretty fair at it. But mastery is not what any woman with a bendable spinal cord has of that activity. Most of us are delighted to complete our journey upright and with both shoes. Arrgh!

I can't recommend this book I can't recommend this writer. But I can pack up my snarkiness and seared sensibilities and take this gem back to the library where another Karin Fossum awaits me. And I can be grateful that here I have a forum in which I can loose my deep disappointment.

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

(note: this a brief review; you can find my longer one here.

I'd put this book up against any good Scandinavian crime fiction novel -- it's got a credible plot with a good mystery wrapped around it, believable characters, and as always, concerns about contemporary issues are embedded within the story. It falls within the category of police procedural, and although I might disagree somewhat with the blurb on my cover calling the book "Sweden's Prime Suspect,” there is very little fault for readers to find in this novel.

Detective Inspector Irene Huss works in the Violent Crimes division of the Göteborg Police. Irene is a martial arts expert, a 10-cup a day coffee drinker and seasoned police officer, who lately finds herself trying hard not to become "jaded or cynical." Her current home worries center on her daughter, who has a new boyfriend who convinces her to play in a skinhead band and to shave off her hair. But her home situation has to fade into the background for a bit while she investigates a new case: a very prominent financier has plummeted to his death off the balcony of his building. At first glance, it seems likely that it’s a suicide, but the medical examiner finds evidence that points to murder. While starting their investigation into the death of Richard von Knecht, the 8-person investigative team soon finds itself in the middle of another crime: someone has bombed the building where von Knecht had his office, and a dead and unrecognizable body has been found there. With a multitude of suspects from which to choose, and possible links into the shady and violent world of the drug trade, the case seems to grow bigger as time goes on. As the detectives seem to get closer to a solution, not only is their case thrown into a frenzy, but a series of clues lead some of them into a potentially deadly situation.

The only major drawback I found in this book was that it wasn't long until I figured out the who in one of the crimes; from the clues it's really not that difficult to figure it out. The other I never had pegged, and trying to get to the solution made it impossible to put the book down. Considering that this book is the introduction to a series, it's very well done, ultimately very satisfying and intelligently written. Tursten hits the ground running. I would recommend this book very highly, not just for readers of Scandinavian crime fiction, but for crime fiction readers in general, as well as those who like credible and strong women characters in the lead role.

[Christine PNW · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure about this one for at least the first 25% - either the writing or the translation seemed a bit stilted. However, I was enjoying DI Huss, so I persevered. And became engrossed.

I really love Scandi crime novels. I stumbled onto Henning Mankell donkey's years ago - long before Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy was published - and fell, not exactly in love with, but in great regard with damaged detective Kurt Wallander. At that time, Nordic Noir hadn't yet crossed the Atlantic or made it into English translation in any great volume. After The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo that all changed, and now crime fiction from Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and even Iceland are a dime a dozen. Well, maybe not that inexpensive, but readily available for kindle.

As is often the case in crime fiction, the initial impression of the victim as a fine, upstanding citizen, hides a sordid tale of sex, money, and drugs. All the world round, one can depend on mysteries to deliver an indictment of society, through the medium of crime. I'd like to read more about Detective Inspector Huss.

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

A tedious read, that becomes even more frustrating when you realize, approximately 25 pages in, that the killer is revealed (by clothing) in the prologue.

The translation is clunky, not that I speak Swedish, but the wording is often odd. In one scene, the inspector notices a wall of graffiti: amongst the racial slurs, and cuss words, is the expression "Kilroy was Here!". It's 1998, not 1948.

I also took issue with the roving point of view. The story was told mostly from the perspective of the Inspector and Superintendent, but would occasionally dart into the mind of another character. It wasn't omniscient by any means. It was just sloppy.

Overlong, with too many plot-lines, and plenty of male chauvinism, I'm hard pressed to recommend this to anyone. Reader, beware.


There's a hardback (Soho books) with this cover & that's what I reading. It isn't a kindle.

[Graeme · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wouldn't wish arthritis on anyone, but Helene Tursten, the author of this gripping story, only decided to write when rheumatics prevented her from continuing the practice of dentistry. Detective Inspector Huss, published in Swedish in 1998 and in English in 2003, was her first book, and I found it surprisingly polished. The characters are interesting and well-drawn, particularly the eponymous heroine, who is in every way a well-balanced, sensible Swedish mother, whose only hint of neuroticism is worrying about the behavior and safety of her twin teenage daughters, despite being attacked and almost killed on several occasions. Irene Huss's normality was a great relief after a procession of alienated, cigarette-sucking, alcoholic male police officers in Swedish crime, let alone the Scots and British. It is set in Goteborg for a nice change, and gave me a better sense of Nordic life, since, in addition to all those Swedes, several of the characters were Finns. I am having trouble believing that men with names like Paul John Svensson and Lasse "Shorty" Johannesson can be murderous criminals, but that's my problem. I have been learning to speak such names with a Swedish sing-song pronunciation by watching wonderful TV shows like Beck and Wallander, but that has only made it worse.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tursten has created a wonderfully rich work and family environment for her strong female lead, Detective Inspector Irene Huss of Violent Crimes, Gotenborg, Sweden. Despite the brutally difficult work she does each day investigating the evils of men, she seems remarkably (unbelievably?) centered and grounded and empathetic to victims. She has emotions we recognize. We like to follow her to crime scenes, and stakeouts, despite the grim business we often find there. This is a very strong lead-in to series with potential. Not anything like the dark Nordic mysteries that are more commonly encountered with this genre.

[Cameron Wiggins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helene Tursten scores big in the first book of eight in the DI Irene Huss series with Detective Inspector Huss. This is an excellent Swedish police procedural. This is a very detailed and very well developed book.
Detective Inspector Huss starts out on a smooth, well-plotted, and very thorough police procedural. But, give it just a little time and the reader will be hooked and taken into an intensely enjoyable book that may keep the reader up late at night reading and not wish to put down. This is a rarity in police procedurals and these books are somewhat of an acquired taste. Any thriller, mystery, or police procedural reader will most likely enjoy this book.
Characters are very well described in Detective Inspector Huss and it appears that all bases in details are covered. DI Huss and Detective Superintendent Sven Andersson have a very tough case to work and the pair are extensively portrayed. DI Huss’ family consist of her husband, a chef, and two daughters aging into their dangerous teens. Of course, the job and her family are a constant reminder to the pull between what both the job and the family need.
The setting is Goteborg, Sweden. Detective Inspector Huss begins as the well known and prominent citizen, Richard Von Knecht appears to have jumped to his death. And, his wife and son are just then driving home when Von Knecht jumps. The “Society Suicide” soon is exposed as a carefully plotted murder. Von Knecht’s office apartment is blown up the next day. DI Huss and her team must delve into the world of the rich, the Swedish underworld and the poor immigrants as they wade through solving the case.
It seems that this book keeps getting more interesting and curious as the book progresses. Who killed Von Knecht? DI Huss knows that she must solve this case fast. The clock is running and the family is wanting. DI Huss knows that this case mandates her full attention. The reader will not be disappointed thanks to Tursten’s excellent writing. Detective Inspector Huss is a definite 4-star read.

[Kasa Cotugno · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good introduction to a promising series.

[AngryGreyCat · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. I generally like Nordic Noir. I picked it up and attemped it multiple times over a two week period but just couldn't. At first I thought perhaps it was the translation, I have encountered other books in which the translation has made for a bad read in English but after reading other revies, I have found that this translator, Steven T. Murray, is excellent and not the cause of the issues.
1 - repetitive sentence structure, often short and choppy.
2 -confusing point of view switches at times
3 - lots of telling, little showing - as in, you find out how the investigation is progressing through the staff meetings where they discuss the investigation.
4- not much in the way of character building so there is little to care about in the characters
5- The writing has a very "freshman" feel to it - lots of adverbs

I almost never DNF but this is one that I could not justify spending any more time on. It is putting me behind on my reading challenge.

[Jaksen · Rating 1 out of 5]

A difficult read simply due to the writing. I was ready to blame the translator, but have since learned he has translated other books and done a wonderful job. The dialogue seemed artificial and the narration just a little 'off.' The shifting POV was disorienting - sometimes everything is seen through the MC; other times through different characters. This wasn't written in omni, or if it was - it was poorly-written omni. The characters were all sort of dull, and it just didn't hold my interest. I got about halfway through and said ... no ... more ...

I am getting too old to push through books that simply don't hold me. I tried. I wanted to discover a new mystery writer, but obviously, for me, this is not the one.

[Larry Bassett · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is to a fine, detailed (and sometimes fun) point.

It was the first time she had been on an Intercity train. Even before she sat down she knew she was out of place. She wasn’t wearing a suit or high-heeled shoes, and she carried no briefcase or laptop. In her black jeans, her down-filled poplin jacket, and her red wool sweater she felt like a total misfit. A woman in a masculine-looking gray pin-striped suit, complementing her pageboy haircut, looked at Irene disapprovingly over the edge of her reading glasses when Irene sat down facing her on the other side of the aisle. The only baggage Irene was carrying was a yellow plastic bag from the newsstand with snacks and newspapers. Since she didn’t even own a handbag and never had, most of what she needed inher daily life she kept in her jacket pockets. They bulged unaesthetically. She decided to pretend there was a fax machine in her right pocket and a palm computer in the left.

I have read Stieg Larssen and the Millennium trilogy, of course, so this is not my first Scandinavian author. But I still am enjoying feeling like a novice in Sweden. Everyone in that part of the world speaks English, so the translation is good. But we have the Swedish elements of skinheads, light beer and early afternoon winter darkness. “Irene Huss is a 40-something wife, mother, cop, detective and judo expert.” She is a woman working in a male dominated, sexist police department in a murder case that takes her into the worlds of Hell’s Angels, AIDs, drugs and the upper class. She struggles with a dangerous, demanding job and a rebellious teenage daughter. And, like a good (but not great) murder mystery, all the tangles come undone in the final fifty pages of drama and confession.

This fifteen year old Swedish mystery was translated into English in 2003 as part of the surge in Scandinavian popularity. The translation maintains the northern European feel successfully for the reader. The physical action is mostly concentrated in the final half of the book. The feminist and skinhead subplots create some interesting side action.

I selected this book because of its promise of a progressive woman detective in a feminist, hard boiled novel. The book delivered that scenario but I did not find myself drawn to the several following books in the Irene Huss series. Three stars. I was entertained enough to stick with this book but not to continue on to others.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

God only knows I have nothing against fictional flawed detectives. From hard-core alcoholics like Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole (Cockroaches), to Sara Gran’s drug addicted (Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead) and the intriguing mental illness of Harry Bingham's Fiona Griffiths (Talking to the Dead), if the writing is good and the plotting tight, I’ll love them; flaws and all. But it really is a relief to read a series in which Swedish detective, Irene Huss (pronounced, apparently, Ee ree’ en Hoos) is a perfectly normal almost-forty woman with a regular, happy family life who just happens to have an incredibly interesting job.

Also refreshing is that neither Irene nor any other member of her team is some eerie savant who routinely pulls the solution to a murder out of his or her hat (I’m talking to YOU, Adam Dalgliesh!) (The Black Tower). These guys (and women) work as a team; a sometimes dysfunctional team, it is true, but the problems they have will ring true to anyone who has ever had to work directly with other people.

Tursten’s character, Irene Huss, is an interesting, smart, professional detective. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

[Kristi Lamont · Rating 3 out of 5]

I backed my way into the Inspector Huss series via backing my way through the Elderly Lady books by Helene Tursten.

That's important to note at the outset, because it means I first encountered Ms Tursten much later in her impressive authorial career than when she wrote about our titular detective inspector. Which means that the first two books I read were more succinct and witty than Detective Inspector Huss, which I read over the course of the past few days.

Not that this was not a bad book, by any means. And I do plan to read the entire series. It's just that there was a bit of "everything and the kitchen sink" feel to it; which, I suppose, can be quite common in books that are the first in a series. The authors tend to throw a lot out there in terms of characters and context and subplots, see what works, pick and choose for the next, etc. Also, mystery writers do love them some red herrings, don't they? And given that Ms Tursten is Swedish....no, wait, stop, Kristi. Do not keep going with an attempt at combination Scandinavian- and herring-related humor. Just don't.

Back to the book: I feel quite sure that had I read it when it came out back in the day (early 2000s) I would have been much more taken by it. Things would have seemed more modern and relevant, especially changing attitudes in the workplace related to females in law enforcement.

Not sure if I'm going to read the second Inspector Huss yet or take a little break, maybe return stateside for a bit and engage with some nonfiction as a palate cleanser. Because one can only consume so much fish and strong black coffee in a short time, eh?

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helen Tursten's Detective Inspector Huss is a satisfying Swedish police procedural. It is the first in a series featuring Detective Irene Huss.

The crime: a successful, famous, and wealthy businessman is pushed to his death from his balcony landing at the feet of his wife and son. There are many who had motive to kill him, including the members of his own family. The mystery is sometimes slow going but generally well-plotted.

The most enjoyable aspect of the novel, for me, is the character of Irene. She is happily married with twin teen daughters and all the challenges that presents. She is a competent police woman and a steady voice in the novel, balanced, not perfect but not agonized either, a change from so many Scandinavian suffering policemen. Although I enjoy the edginess of those other police (men and women-think Rebecka Martinsson from Asa Larsson's series), it was a welcome change to experience the Scandinavian landscape through a more balanced mind.

I will definitely read the next book in the series.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

ANOTHER new series for me to trek through...and I have - lovely library downloads to eReader while traveling!!

This series (w/ three so far + the TV series in Sweden...) is billed as the Swedish 'Prime Suspect' but Irene Huss is soooo much more likable. This is more like a Swedish Inspector Brunetti, if you want my opinion - good food, family involvment (including dog, Sammie...), completely interesting collegues, wonderful descriptions of place AND good mystery w/ really unusual twists.

Goody good. I didn't even slip to the end of the book to see who's there at the end...wanted to savor each section (although I do await the retirement of the Boss already!!).

[Eliszard · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 3 stars are the result of 4 stars for plot and some interesting ideas, and 2 stars for lame writing. Sometime I wonder if mystery writers think that their readers are completely stupid, or won't follow the character development or the plot if it is not made pedantically explicit. The protagonist of the story, Swedish police detective Irene Huss, is a nice change from middle-aged semi-alcoholic men who seem to populate so many of today's mysteries. Her life and her experiences ring true, but the book is bogged down with too much telling and not enough showing.

[Val Sanford · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this but the story wanders all over the place with poorly constructed characters who say awkward and stilted thinks. Perhaps it's the translation as the bones of the story are good, but these's so much going on with characters I never connect with that I almost put it down. Skinheads, drug dealing photographers, demolition exerts and selfish ubber-wealthy celebrities, the authortriestotakeon all of these issues, plus gender discrimination in the police department: it's too mu h and clumsily done.

[Eileen · Rating 2 out of 5]

An overly detailed and plodding story, made considerably worse by a clunky translation that sticks much too close to the original.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This introduction to DI Irene Huss would not have enticed me to read more of the series. I did like the third or fourth The Glass Devil far more than this rather long book filled to overflowing with characters and side subjects from art, skinheads, dope dealers, questions on whether the holocaust was real, infidelity, immigrants, raising children, sexual harassment in the workplace, lots of detailed meals prepared by Irene's husband, bombs, etc. Written 21 years ago as we stand now.
Strange team meetings at the Goteborg Police with Andersson in charge: "Andersson's eyes were popping out of their sockets like red Ping Pong balls. His face was turning purple and his breathing was labored as he wheezed. Nobody moved. They all prayed silently that the superintendent wouldn't have a stroke." This in reaction to evidence about keys linked to the murder of a wealthy man. And that was on page 199 of 371 long pages where individuals often enacted hysteria. Is it a Swedish thing?
If the Police Superintendent behaves in this manner you can imagine some of the main characters who need to be questioned. One lady screams and goes into hysterics. Oh well.
It was a clean paperback from my library but I think I am done.

[Lithezebra · Rating 3 out of 5]

The prose and the characters in this book are exceptionally well written. I only gave it three stars because the plot meanders. loses focus, and runs out of momentum long before the end of the story. I will probably try reading another book by this author.

[Tolkien InMySleep · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark exposé of Swedish high society, veering close to thriller territory at times, but never forgetting that it has a heart. Some interesting English translations, though !