Le cercle des coeurs solitaires

Konrad Simonsen #3

by Lotte Hammer, Søren Hammer, Michèle Lamothe Nielsen (Translator)

Fusillade dans une école de Copenhague. Konrad Simonsen, qui se relève à peine d'un accident cardiovasculaire, aurait rêvé mieux comme convalescence. Heureusement, le stress post-traumatique, sa jeune collègue Pauline Berg connaît : elle qui a récemment échappé à la mort dans une cave, pique des crises d'angoisse à répétition et boulotte ses anxiolytiques comme des Tic-Tac. Le malaise guette.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction, Nordic Noir, Thriller, Procedural, Scandinavian Literature

405 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Lotte Hammer (born 1955) finished her training as a nurse in 1977. She has since worked and lived many places, such as Greece, Germany, the North Sea’s oil rigs and the American air force bases in Greenland. From 1995 to 2010 she was head of the Public Eldercare in Halsnaes, Denmark. From 2006 to 2010 she was actively involved in local politics and has been writing full time since 2010.

The crime writing siblings, Lotte Hammer and Søren Hammer published their first novel Svinehunde (The Beast Within) in March 2010.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the third novel in their Konrad Simonsen series, Søren and Lotte Hammer offer the reader a deeper look at the protagonist while he delves into a crime that spans decades. Having recently returned from a heart attack, Simonsen is no longer in charge of the Criminal Division or the team he guided for years. Instead, he is directed to look into a potential crime scene involving a postal worker, who was found at the bottom of the outside stairs on the second floor of his home. What was originally deemed and accidental fall has Simonsen questioning the determination of the police and forensic authorities. As he looks into the man's past, Simonsen discovers clues to a missing girl from the late 1960s, who left Liverpool and made her way into Denmark. With little on which to go, Simonsen and his team begin exploring the possibilities, which reveals a Group of Six students attending school together, calling themselves the Lonely Hearts. Could these six have played some role in the disappearance (and potential murder) of the English girl? Subsequently, could someone have broken a pact and killed the one member whose guilt became too much? As the case progresses, living more in the age of Flower Power than current criminal activity, Simonsen has flashbacks to the life he lived in the same era, and a love interest whose dealings with the law plagued him for a long time. As he tries to wrestle with that series of feelings and events, Simonsen must look the present to determine if a handful of fifty-somethings came recollect meeting a girl one summer and what might have happened that pushed them over the edge, turning Lonely Hearts into cold-blooded killers. An interesting crime thriller allows the Hammer siblings to spin a tale that has criminal elements and much backstory for the protagonist through to the final page.

While I am no expert on Scandinavian crime thrillers or literature in general, I have a handful of authors from the region with which I am familiar and can compare their works to that of Søren and Lotte Hammer. I find the Hammers' work to be much more dense and harder to digest, though there could be something about the translation from the Danish that impedes the flow of the story. That said, with much longer chapters and a tendency to push into the more minute details and expand on them, the novel can, from time to time, move into the realm of overdone and somewhat too much for the intended purpose. I know I have mentioned in past reviews of the authors that it seems they take longer to get back to the point and tie up loose ends, the the premises of their novels is strong and the characters are well-developed. Simonsen does have some parallels to those detectives from the aforementioned other Scandinavian thrillers, though this novel ties him up on so many personal levels that it is harder for the reader to leave feeling a sense of a strong connection to the man, but rather a sense that the past and present are overloaded and leave everyone feeling a tad raw. The Hammer siblings are wonderful storytellers, though their delivery could, for some readers, cause a less than celebratory mood as one wades through the text in search for a powerful mystery.

Kudos, Hammer siblings for the strong foundation. While one might call it something lost in translation, I cannot help but feel it is more a case of too much in a single book. I cannot wait to get my hands on the three novels that have yet to make it into English.

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[Alessia Scurati · Rating 3 out of 5]

Questo romanzo l’ho comprato anni fa. Perché non mi era dispiaciuto il primo romanzo della trilogia con protagonista Konrad Simonsen, quindi avevo acquistato anche gli altri due della serie per completare la vicenda. Peccato che il secondo romanzo fosse di una noia mortale, penso di averci messo un mese e mezzo a leggerlo sforzandomi
- ovvero, per me un secolo e pure strano essendo un noir, che di solito dovrebbero agganciare il lettore talmente tanto da trascinarli alla svelta verso la fine.
Per cui, ho rimandato fino ad oggi la lettura temendo un’altra lunga agonia.
Così non è stato.
Vero, il giallo non ha un ritmo velocissimo, anzi. Però, almeno gran parte di esso è un cold case: bisogna risolvere l’omicidio di una ragazza inglese morta a fine anni ’60. Il che, da un certo punto di vista giustifica le indagini compassate, non essendo un caso che richiede una risoluzione immediata (pure i danesi sono molto latini quando ci si mettono, in fondo 5-6 mesi in più o in meno quando hai aspettato 30 anni…).
Dunque, per tornare alla velocità della trama: meno veloce del primo (che resta il migliore della serie) ma molto più veloce del secondo - che è stata una tortura, so di essere tremenda, ma davvero non mi ha preso. Questo è lento, ma un lento accettabile a tratti.
I lati deboli della trama, semmai, sono altri. Ci sono una serie di storie che vengono accennate e sviluppate per qualche pagina, poi trovano una risoluzione veloce 70 pagine dopo. Ci sono dei personaggi che, se non si sono letti i due volumi precedenti, diventano difficili da inquadrare e sopportare. C’è un commissario che diventa un po’ insopportabile, e va bene che è reduce da un infarto e a riposo forzato, ma più malmostoso di così in certi capitoli non si può. Ci sono una serie di colpi di scena che non riescono a sorprendere un continuo richiamo a certi personaggi della passata politica danese che rendono lo scenario un po’ troppo specifico, magari ci starei stata dietro meglio se si fossero fatte note a piè di pagina o finali.
In generale, è un noir serio e sufficiente, ma non del tutto entusiasmante per un cultore del genere.

[clumsyplankton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not great not terrible pretty standard

[Mary Dolata · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think these authors need to find a new translator. Some sentences made no sense at all, words were used incorrectly, and how often does an author use the word "albeit" when writing in English? I lost count of how many times it was used in this book. The second issue I had was with the main character. He is fixated on a woman who was his girlfriend in the 70's- the entire book is laced with flashbacks to his time with her. But guess what- he can't remember her last name! They were together for 2 years and some very memorable events occurred in their lives at that time which are laid out in great detail via his reminiscing, but he has to go off on a search of old records to find her name. In the meantime, he is investigating the disappearance of a young English woman who had been at a cabin with a group of Danish students. And he becomes angry because these suspects initially claim they have no memory of her, which he finds hard to believe. Of course he is correct they were lying, but again he doesn't remember his old girlfriend's last name yet he demands they recount every minute of their weekend at that cabin. While I liked the storyline and I love the Scandinavian setting I don't know if I will read any more of this series.

[BrianC75 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written intelligent Nordic whodunnit. Interweaves several plot lines and does so with style. Characterisation somewhat cliched and book overlong.
Would read these authors again.

[Stina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dette er 3. bind i serien om Drabsafdeling på Københavns politigård.

Jeg kastede mig over denne, da jeg var meget begejstret for efterfølgeren : Pigen i Santans Mose… Men for filan, de kan slet ikke måles!

Sproget er flydende, dialogerne som hovedregel gode, men der er en del gentagelser og megen overflødig snak, som træder vande og blot bidrager til at fylde romanen.

Bogen starter med en sag, som stort set intet har at gøre med resten, dette kunne sagtens undlades uden at romanen mister noget.

Kategorien er krimi, men der er stort set intet krimi i denne roman, til gengæld er den fyldt med gode hjertevarme tilbagesyn, og de trækker trods alt op… Selv om den som helhed fejler fælt som krimi.

Plottet holder ikke, opklaringsarbejdet er langsommeligt, uvedkommende og til tider fuldkommen uinteressesant – det virker forstyrrende på de hyggelige tilbageblik.

Da der stort set ikke er noget krimi, er det næsten umuligt at beskrive opklaringsarbejdet ordentligt, den del er en stor skuffelse.

Jeg giver 2 hjerter for en hyggelig roman med ganske få glimt af krimi, den holder meget mere end den lover, og er fuldkommen fejlplaceret i krimigenren… Men selve historien er hyggelig og glider nemt ned… Jeg burde nok kun give et hjerte, men runder op til to.

[Simon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well all I can say is 'what a snoreie zzzzzzzzz), slow, yawning, enjoyed the first few pages then slowed right down, is it the translation ? don't know but at least gave it a go and was free from the library.

[John Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third book in the Konrad Simonsen series, by Danish brother/sister writing team Lotte and Soren Hammer. I enjoyed the first - The Hanging, reviewed in this space. I missed the second – The Girl in the Ice, but I will seek it out.

As noted in my first review, I am wary of writing “teams”, but the Hammers helped me overcome this with a combined voice I found to be dry but also very funny at the most surprising junctures. In The Vanished, the humorous element is replaced by a more musing, philosophical voice. This shift reflects an ageing, almost retired, head of the homicide team, recently felled by a heart attack from stress and careless living. Detective Superintendent Konrad Simonsen is trying to slowly ease back into his role as the story opens.

Instead of getting straight back into a serious murder investigation, Simonsen’s second-in-command Arne Pedersen, who has been acting as Super, assigns him the mostly bureaucratic task of collecting and confirming the details of an apparent accidental death – a broken neck caused by a fall down some stairs. The victim is a postman, who turns out to have been a complete loner. And who converted to the Catholic church. More in-depth forensics lead Simonsen to believe there may have been foul play. And a deeper look into that possibility brings to light the possibility that the dead postman was also involved in a very disturbing incident.

Simonsen ends up chasing the ghost of a long-missing British girl who was traveling in Denmark in the late 60’s, the era of free love, drugs and social alienation, etc. Also time of much personal upheaval for a now senior cop.

Despite fragile health, Konrad Simonsen remains an irascible, deeply intuitive cop who has trouble communicating the most important things to those trying to help him. He is surrounded by interesting supporting characters. First among them is the Countess, a senior detective who happens to come from Denmark’s nobility. She and “Simon” are now in the first stages of living together, though they both hold to their own ground professionally. The young and volatile, and now PTSD-damaged, Inspector Pauline Berg adds emotional frisson. The unnamed Deputy Commissioner brings matronly charm and gentle humor.

(What happened to Inspector Poul Trouson, source of the mordant humor I so much enjoyed in The Hanging? …Another reason to read the second book in this series.)

But the dynamic informing this investigation is completely different from the first book, and therefore so is the tone of the story. To the authors’ credit. Some crime writers tend to repeat themselves.

At the heart of it, and what makes this crime novel fascinating, is Simonsen’s ongoing dialogue with the priest who was the dead postman’s confessor. There are not so many Catholics in Denmark; our cop is not sure how to approach a priest. The priest is smart. Polite and engaging though he may be, he knows how to use the Church’s shield of immunity in guarding the postman’s most intimate revelations – and yet provide a perceptive cop with useful information.

Can Simonsen hear rightly? The crux of this investigation is in the space between the cop and the priest. And it’s done perfectly.

4 stars. I wish the dark-funny element was still at play. But in The Vanished, the Hammers go to a different, deeper societal place. Well worth the slower, more contemplative pace.

[Janine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nicht einsamen Herzens, aber doch schweren Herzens habe ich den dritten Teil der Reihe um Kommissar Simonsen abgebrochen. Oder vielleicht auch nur pausiert? Ich weiß es noch nicht, doch ich werde jetzt erst einmal andere Bücher in die Hand nehmen. Es hatte sich bereits angekündigt, da ich das Buch zweimal zur Seite gelegt hatte und sich das Lesen wie Kaugummi zog. Und jetzt kämpfe ich mich von Seite zu Seite und merke, dass mich der Mordfall nicht wirklich interessiert und auch die Protagonisten mich eher kaltlassen. Schade.

„Einsame Herzen“ klingt ein wenig nach einem Liebesroman, ist es aber ganz und gar nicht. Nach den beiden Vorgängern „Schweinehunde“ sowie „Das weiße Grab“ ist dies nun der dritte Band des Autorenduos Lotte und Søren Hammer. Die Krimis sind zwar in sich abgeschlossen, jedoch ist es sehr empfehlenswert, auch die ersten beiden Teile zu lesen. Denn es wird sich sehr häufig auf die Vergangenheit bezogen und auch die Personen sowie deren Beziehungen zueinander versteht der Leser am besten, wenn er/sie deren Historie kennt.

Ich bin die ganze Zeit am Überlegen, woran es liegt, dass ich dieses Mal nicht warmwerde mit dem Buch: Vermutlich liegt es zum einen daran, dass die Protagonisten in erster Linie mit sich und ihren bzw. anderen Problemen beschäftigt sind und sich nicht wirklich eine Dynamik im Ermittlerteam aufbaut. Es gibt Zeitsprünge, die zwar spannend sein können, in diesem Fall mich jedoch eher stören. Und zum anderen liegt es am Mordfall, der mich leider auch nicht vom Hocker reißt.

Die ersten beiden Teile gefielen mir sehr gut und ich denke, dass ich dem vierten Band eine Chance geben werde. Ja, eigentlich muss, habe ich doch bereits auf Vorrat bis zum fünften Band alle gekauft.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't decide whether the slightly uneven way the book progresses is due to its having two authors or not. It is a bit slow in places, althou th I rather like all the incidental detail. The story is a bit strange: the team, now not led by Konrad Simonsen who is recuperating from a heart attack and has just returned, investigates what was originally thought to be an accidental death. Enquiries reveal a hidden loft with a series of pictures of a girl who disappeared in 1969, and that case toois investigated by the team. Both are eventually solved, with Konrad also reliving some of his own past and discoverong what happened to his girlfriend from the time (and clearing his conscience about something he did). The opening however is a description of a school shooting, which produces a connection to the accidental death and some thoughts about where social exclusion might lead people, but also contributes, for me at least, to the feeling of unevenness, as this dramatic event is lost sight of and only remembered later on for purposes of drawing a moral. In fact there is quite a lot of reflective moralising (the episode in which the fifty-somethings are made to dig up the skeleton is strange, but presumably meant to be some sort of restitution). Not entirely comfortable with the psychic woman consultant, either. Not a bad book, though!

[MilleCab · Rating 2 out of 5]

Je suis rarement déçue par mes lectures, mais avec ce livre, je ne peux utiliser d'autre terme pour définir ce que je ressens en le terminant.
J'ai le sentiment d'avoir été trompée par la quatrième de couverture et le premier chapitre, qui laissaient présager une histoire palpitante et intéressante. En réalité, la succession d'événements est plutôt ennuyeuse, avec des passages semblants écrits pour remplir les pages.
Aucun personnage ne m'a touchée, pas même le personnage principal, je ne me suis attachée à aucun d'eux, ce qui rend difficile de s'intéresser à leur sort et aventures. Le personnage de Simon et le personnage de Pauline sont particulièrement antipathiques. D'autres personnages tout comme l'intrigue secondaire de ce roman, avec Rita notamment, sont superflus.
Pour finir, l'histoire part dans tous les sens après quelques chapitres pourtant assez satisfaisant, mais l'enchaînement des découvertes et l'enquête en elle-même me paraît tirée par les cheveux, et la fin ne rend pas hommage à un tel pavé.

[Erik H · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love two things about this series. Firstly the complexity: it's challenging and you have to read each word carefully to get the full depth of what is going on. So effort is required: if .you want Agatha Christie, go read something else. There's no grandstanding, no "hero" detective, though Simon is the centre of the books. But he's part of a team, sometimes right, sometimes wrong. If you want thoughtful observations of human beings, this could be your book. The second thing I like is that the characters grow throughout the series. You can see them develop, respond to what has happened to them and how their relationships hold them together. There's some back-history in this one on Simon that clearly reflects the issues he faces in his life and this case. And the last chapter is a delight to read.

I've now read three of the Konrad Simonsen books and I have the fourth cued to read. I can hardly wait.

[Mitch S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an okay story but I was turned off by the silly Easter Egg references to The Beatles Sgt Pepper album scattered out in the open like a child's hidden object game. Rita? Lucy ? Her parents wondering why she left home " to meet a man from the motot trade" after they gave her "everything money could buy".....a priest actually says something like "I heard the English army had just won the war", a social group called the Lonely Hearts, etc etc...made a mockery of being a serious detective fiction for me

[Peta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could easily have been better. Let down by too much detail - in conversations and side stories.
Also too much going on; with an “old flame” story, a dead postman and a missing (presumed dead) young woman. In short I felt that the sibling authors were each trying too hard to impact the overall themes.
This story is about 80 pages longer than it needs to be.
KISS principle people!! Keep the story dialogue meaningful and the storyline tight.

[Mari · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very long story. I’m glad Konrad finally found someone to settled down with and his daughter moved into her own apt (her Dad’s). But trying to find Lucy was interesting but it just moved so slow. I had to force myself to read this. And Pauline was a character, but how many bosses take her sass and moods! She became annoying.

[Anna-Maria Nylund · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alku oli kamalan synkkä, mutta onneksi juoni nosti merkitystään tarinan edetessä. Pidin juurikin "tavanomaisuudesta", siitä ajatuksesta että tuo olisi voinut ehkä ehkä tapahtua minulle. Pidin erityisesti siitä, etteivät karmeat yksityiskohdat olleet oleellisessa roolissa, vaan tarina ja hahmojen nivoutuminen tarinaan, omaan elämäänsä ja omina itsenään myös.

[Isabelle Larocque · Rating 2 out of 5]

Inintéressant, à part la découverte de personnages qui me semblent très danois. C'est le seul point positif. Et se "promener" un peu dans Copenhague. Le livre avavit bien commencé puis il a totalement bifurqué dans trop de directions. Je ne l'ai même pas fini, ce qui en dit long...

[Catherine Barker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book even though I had never read any other book in the series. Maybe because it is a Danish (?) to English translation, reading it has the same feel and quality as the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series. Very good read!

[Stephanie Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sounded a good book, just seamed slow after a while, did get better near the end

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a good story here but it needs editing and dear god a better translation/translator.

[Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the print version, excellent mystery and much better English translation than in the first book.

[Shantel Poland · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn’t even finish this book.

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

Thumbs up for the new guy.

Thumbs down for Pauline.

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slow, meticulous, meandering, and satisfying.

[Heidi Penttinen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve read a couple of books from these authors and those books have been good. This one wasn’t my personal favourite at all. I enjoyed the last 50 pages and that’s pretty much it.

[Richard Pierce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bit disappointing, in truth, but riveting. Not sure the translation is that great. Average.

[Jan Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit confusing if you have read the previous books.

[Renita D'Silva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thrilling and tense

[Emmi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Got almost half way, seriously nothing happens and never gets interesting. Wish I had abandoned this sooner.

[Diana Wallenstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dragged on for too long and the main character's many idiosyncrasies become tiresome.