Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this ebook, free of charge,from Soho Press,via Edelweiss, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it
Book Excerpt:
Under normal circumstances Irene Huss was not a morning person, but there were days when she seriously considered trying to become one. Mornings like this, for example. The air was crystal clear, with a hint of crispness left over from the chill of the night. Above the horizon an amazing sunrise filled the sky with intense shades of gold. Could there be a more perfect start to the day?
She drew her robe more tightly around her body as she paused on the top step and inhaled deeply. The moisture from last night’s rain intensified the smells. The garden looked as if it had just woken up feeling refreshed. The luxuriant asters glowed deep red in the cast-iron urns on either side of the steps, a final defiant protest against the inexorable approach of the fall.
She padded down to the low gate in her slippers, leaned over and took the newspaper out of the mailbox on the fence. As she turned to go back indoors, she stopped dead. It took a few seconds before she realized that the small garden seat that normally stood between the two kitchen windows had been moved and was now in the middle of the f lower bed beneath one window. The newly planted rose bushes were badly damaged: several branches were broken. Annoyed, Irene picked up the seat and put it back against the wall. Strange—it had been there yesterday evening, hadn’t it?
“I think so,” Krister said when she asked him a little later.
He was standing at the stove cooking eggs, with crisply fried bacon and halved tomatoes piled on a plate beside him. As far as Irene was concerned, preparing such a hearty breakfast was a total waste of time. Three cups of black coffee and a couple of cheese sandwiches had been her standard start to the day for decades, but now her husband had decided that this was unacceptable. Perhaps it was, but it suited her. When she wondered how fried eggs and bacon could be regarded as healthy in view of the bad cholesterol involved, he had waved away the argument: “GI foods! A whole world of dieters can’t be wrong!” To tell the truth, Krister was the one who needed to lose weight, not Irene.
He put a plate of GI breakfast in front of her. As usual she could only manage to push the food around. At times like these she was seriously tempted to turn vegan, like Jenny. Their daughter had stuck to her principles for almost ten years and was now in Amsterdam, training to be a chef specializing in vegan dishes. Jenny was following in her father’s footsteps, but perhaps not exactly the way Krister had expected.
“But you have to admit it’s weird, the seat being moved,” Irene persisted.
“Oh, it’s probably just Viktor and his pals fooling around.”
“Why would Viktor…You could be right.”
The boy next door was ten years old, and he and his friends were always running around the neighborhood. As far as Irene could tell, they all seemed to get along with everyone, and she hadn’t heard of them getting into any serious trouble. She found it difficult to imagine why they would have picked up a seat and thrown it into the rose bed; it seemed completely pointless. The kitchen window was so low that Viktor could easily look through it if he wanted to; he wouldn’t even need to stand on tiptoe.
She shook her head and poured her third cup of coffee.
The following morning Irene woke at seven, despite the fact that it was Saturday, and she didn’t have to go to work. Krister had worked late at the restaurant the previous night, and the soft, regular breathing from the bed beside her suggested that he would remain deeply asleep for quite some time. She crept out of the warmth of the covers. When she had finished in the bathroom she put on her running gear, automatically reaching for her knee brace. Her knee was too painful if she didn’t use it these days. I’m starting to fall apart, she thought gloomily.
She opened the door and jogged down the steps, then stopped and stared straight ahead. Slowly she turned around.
The glorious asters had been torn out of their urns and lay strewn all over the lawn.
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Synopsis
He watches the women from the shadows. He has an understanding with them; as long as they follow his rules, they are safe. But when they sin, he sentences them to death.
A woman is found dead in a cemetery, strangled and covered in plastic. Just a few days before her death, the victim had received a flower, an unintelligible note, and a photograph of herself. Detective Inspector Irene Huss and her colleagues on the Violent Crimes Unit in Göteborg, Sweden, have neither clue nor motive to pursue, and when similar murders follow, their search for the killer becomes increasingly desperate. Meanwhile, strange things have been going on at home for Irene: first the rose bush in her garden is mangled, then she receives a threatening package with no return address. Is Irene being paranoid, or is she next on the killer’s list?
Under normal circumstances Irene Huss was not a morning person, but there were days when she seriously considered trying to become one. Mornings like this, for example. The air was crystal clear, with a hint of crispness left over from the chill of the night. Above the horizon an amazing sunrise filled the sky with intense shades of gold. Could there be a more perfect start to the day?
She drew her robe more tightly around her body as she paused on the top step and inhaled deeply. The moisture from last night’s rain intensified the smells. The garden looked as if it had just woken up feeling refreshed. The luxuriant asters glowed deep red in the cast-iron urns on either side of the steps, a final defiant protest against the inexorable approach of the fall.
She padded down to the low gate in her slippers, leaned over and took the newspaper out of the mailbox on the fence. As she turned to go back indoors, she stopped dead. It took a few seconds before she realized that the small garden seat that normally stood between the two kitchen windows had been moved and was now in the middle of the f lower bed beneath one window. The newly planted rose bushes were badly damaged: several branches were broken. Annoyed, Irene picked up the seat and put it back against the wall. Strange—it had been there yesterday evening, hadn’t it?
“I think so,” Krister said when she asked him a little later.
He was standing at the stove cooking eggs, with crisply fried bacon and halved tomatoes piled on a plate beside him. As far as Irene was concerned, preparing such a hearty breakfast was a total waste of time. Three cups of black coffee and a couple of cheese sandwiches had been her standard start to the day for decades, but now her husband had decided that this was unacceptable. Perhaps it was, but it suited her. When she wondered how fried eggs and bacon could be regarded as healthy in view of the bad cholesterol involved, he had waved away the argument: “GI foods! A whole world of dieters can’t be wrong!” To tell the truth, Krister was the one who needed to lose weight, not Irene.
He put a plate of GI breakfast in front of her. As usual she could only manage to push the food around. At times like these she was seriously tempted to turn vegan, like Jenny. Their daughter had stuck to her principles for almost ten years and was now in Amsterdam, training to be a chef specializing in vegan dishes. Jenny was following in her father’s footsteps, but perhaps not exactly the way Krister had expected.
“But you have to admit it’s weird, the seat being moved,” Irene persisted.
“Oh, it’s probably just Viktor and his pals fooling around.”
“Why would Viktor…You could be right.”
The boy next door was ten years old, and he and his friends were always running around the neighborhood. As far as Irene could tell, they all seemed to get along with everyone, and she hadn’t heard of them getting into any serious trouble. She found it difficult to imagine why they would have picked up a seat and thrown it into the rose bed; it seemed completely pointless. The kitchen window was so low that Viktor could easily look through it if he wanted to; he wouldn’t even need to stand on tiptoe.
She shook her head and poured her third cup of coffee.
The following morning Irene woke at seven, despite the fact that it was Saturday, and she didn’t have to go to work. Krister had worked late at the restaurant the previous night, and the soft, regular breathing from the bed beside her suggested that he would remain deeply asleep for quite some time. She crept out of the warmth of the covers. When she had finished in the bathroom she put on her running gear, automatically reaching for her knee brace. Her knee was too painful if she didn’t use it these days. I’m starting to fall apart, she thought gloomily.
She opened the door and jogged down the steps, then stopped and stared straight ahead. Slowly she turned around.
The glorious asters had been torn out of their urns and lay strewn all over the lawn.
Review:
Ya'll know how much I love foreign mysteries, especially since I've shared a few this past week with you! Sometimes they are SUCH a breath of fresh ideas! I had never read any of Tursten's books, so I was intriqued to start with this one. Det Huss is different from traditional police characters- she is a former Ju-Jitsu champion, a mother of twin teenage girls, the wife of a successful chef, and a Detective Inspector with the Violent Crimes Unit in Göteborg, Sweden. Not only is she older, she has a stable home life. I know- different! LOL
Yet...strange things are happening in her life, and she wonders if it isn't time to make changes- to shake up their life, to let go of things holding her back, especially after her mother's death, and to experience the new. But will she be able to, or is there more than a case at work that will alter her life?
This is a great book, that makes you want to run and read the rest of the books in the series,
About the Author:
Helene Tursten was a nurse and a dentist before she turned to writing. Other books in the Irene Huss series include Detective Inspector Huss, Night Rounds, The Torso, The Glass Devil, The Golden Calf, The Fire Dance, The Beige Man, and The Treacherous Net. Her books have been translated into 18 languages and made into a television series. She was born in Göteborg, Sweden, where she now lives with her husband and daughter
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