Customer Reviews

Detective Inspector Huss

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Fans of Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander series will be delighted with this first entry in fellow Swede Tursten's procedural series. Set in Goteborg, the book stars Det. Inspector Irene Huss and her colleagues in the Violent Crimes Unit as they investigate the murder of a prominent and very wealthy businessman. Like John Harvey's Charlie Resnick series, the story's about both the crime and the lives of those investigating it, with similarly satisfying results. The crime itself is an exceedingly tangled one, with loads of suspects, a locked door, and many complications and other crimes cropping up as the story progresses. That said, the primary culprit can be guessed almost right from the start, even if the motive and method for the murder cannot. A great deal of the novel's success is attributable to Tursten's detailed step-by-step rendering of the patient police work that leads to the resolution.

The rich and famous milieux of the murder is nothing notably new, nor is the connection to a sleazier world of drugs and sex. However, one thing that American readers may not quite understand is the role of motorcycle gangs in Scandinavia. In the US, the image of the Hell's Angels have been considerably softened to one of benign oversized 50-somethings cruising around on expensive bikes in a now-benign subculture. However, in Scandinavia (and Canada, see John Farrow's thriller City of Ice), the Hell's Angels and other motorcycle gangs are directly involved in high-level drug trafficking and violent crime.

Although the crime and its unraveling could be transposed to a US setting without a great deal of difficulty, the book has much to offer. Most importantly, the characters, from the police to suspects and witnesses, all are exceedingly well-drawn and believable. Det. Insp. Huss is especially likable as a 40ish woman in a male-dominated profession filled with casual sexism. Her coworkers are each intriguing, from enigmatic Hannu, to wheezing supervisor Andersson, bright young Brigitta, nasty Tommy, arrogant Medical Examiner Stridner, and the many technicians who assist the investigation. Huss's personal life adds great depth and sympathy to her character, especially the subplot involving one of her daughter's flirtation with neo-Nazism. Ethnicity comes into play as well, with several characters having Finnish backgrounds that render them quite alien to the Swedes. The pacing is quite good considering the book's length and complexity, as is the translation, which is exceedingly smooth and readable.

This is an engaging debut, and I eagerly look forward to the next in the series.

I really got into this story about a woman police detective in Goteborg, Sweden. This is not a lightweight mystery that comes to the conclusion that X killed Y. There are complex relationships between the characters, a lot of interrelated violent crimes, and motives that are not at all apparent at the start. The book pulls the reader right in by having a wealthy prominent man fall to his death from a high-rise balcony, landing in the street where his wife and son have just parked the car. The net of people involved continually widens, and the action doesnt stop. Some subplots running through the book add to the story (rather than distracting readers, as some authors do). The most interesting for me was the main character's having to handle her 13-year-old daughter becoming seriously involved with a group of neo-Nazis. The details of family and departmental relationships add a sense of reality. The one criticism I had was that the main character's husband was too perfect to be real. I thought it may have been more interesting if she had been divorced, raising the kids on her own. This would leave the possibility open for some romantic involvement. Apart from that, I did get the feeling of having been to Sweden when I finished the story. I highly recommend this book.

Soho Press must've held a book-naming contest and given the prize to the most-generic, least-offensive name. Roughly translated, the book's original title is "The Broken Tang Horse," which explains why several parts of the plot (including the mention of the artifact itself) are highlighted to give the title its full meaning. And putting "Sweden's Prime Suspect" on the cover?

Apart from the inane title for the English translation, the book is good in the vein of the team-effort Swedish police procedurals, although the viewpoint really belongs to Detective Inspector Irene Huss and Detective Superintendent Sven Andersson. (Most of the book revolves around Huss.) There's probably a few subplots too many with the daughter's flirtation with skinheads, or a husband who seems to be more of a "I'm cooking, let's eat!" guy, or the sexist office drama that never seem to show up with Kurt Wallander's gang down in Ystad. However, it's a good plot that develops a group of characters we'll hopefully see again with translations of Tursten's other books. (There are five more.)

This liesurely paced Swedish police procedural, the first in a series, centers on the characters who make up the Violent Crimes Unit in Goteborg, Sweden, particularly 40-ish Irene Huss, wife, mother and detective inspector, as they investigate the murder of a rich financier. Richard Von Knecht took a header off his balcony, but suicide is ruled out even before Huss and her colleagues have finished gawking at the deceased's lavish furnishings - far beyond the means of even rich Swedes. As the team makes its way through the dysfunctional Von Knecht family, a bomb goes off in the murdered man's office, killing two more people and sending Huss into the underworld of bikers and drug dealers and easy death.

Though Huss has a supportive husband (for a refreshing change), there's trouble at home with a burgeoning skinhead daughter and trouble in the force with colleagues covertly and overtly uncomfortable with women. Tursten changes viewpoint with ease and each member of the squad has a chance to shine, from the hard-pressed superintendent trying to mesh personalities and political change to pretty, young Birgitta, enigmatic Rauhala, abrasive Blom and more.

Well-written, if a little long and convoluted, "Huss," provides an intriguing portrait of the workings of a murder squad as well as modern Swedish life.

I'll blame the translator. Huge fan of northern European detective fiction - Mankel, Nesbo, Larson, et al. - so ordered Tursten's book. Not even close to the others, partly because of what I assume is a terrible translation - sorry but the words "slammer" and "consolingly" don't fit in the same sentence. The translation veers between slang and Henry James - and not for any particular reason - Steven Murray just does not have the "flow" that other translators have. Too bad as for Huss, she is an OK character, although her reflections on her life are rather cliched. Her observations and ruminations lack something that other writers from northern Europe seem to have found. I've moved on to Iceland and Indridason who is right there with the best. As for Tursten and Huss, go to the library and read a few pages/chapters before investing.

Financial mogul Richard von Knecht jumps off Goteborg, Sweden apartment balcony. Suicide seems obvious, but some counter evidence quickly surfaces that murder may have occurred. Irene Huss of the Violent Crimes Unit investigates the von Knecht death with a word of caution that the victim is connected to the Swedish elite.

Rather quickly Huss and her competent team trace von Knecht's life into the criminal underground of drug dealing and motorcycle gangs. Not long afterwards, the case turns deadly again when a bomb blows up Von Knecht's business office, killing two people. Huss and her squad struggle with finding the specific motive though in some way she knows that von Knecht's underworld and business connections have crossed at a fatal junction making her worry that more killings will follow if they do not stop the unknown perpetrator now.

Ironically, the reader can figure out who the culprit is rather quickly, but that does not interfere with a fine Swedish police procedural. Huss is a delightful protagonist struggling to make it in a world in which male domination is not limited to the men's room. The police force, especially those who work with the heroine, are a wonderful group as their verbal exchanges and professional investigation make for a fine read for sub-genre fans who also can look forward to future translations of Detective Huss' caseload.

Harriet Klausner

One of the worst books I have read. It was twice as long as needed, with trivial information that added nothing to the story.

Only a few words to say this is certainly a five star mystery and novel. Tursten is an excellent writer and keeps the reader engrossed in the Von Knecht mystery as well as the life of Det. Inspector Huss and her family, living in contemporary Sweden. Her characters are vividly drawn, the setting is fascinating, especially for those of us who have not been to Sweden, and the mystery is complex enough to keep you guessing until the end. I was also impressed by how she wove important contemporary social issues into the novel. She has the toughness of the "hard-boiled" writers and the grace of a P. D. James. Very well worth reading. I look forward to the other two novels in translation and those that are still in Swedish.
Let us hope they are translated soon.

Amazon doesn't allow us half stars. This was 3.5 stars for me.

I find myself in an unusual situation. I really liked the tv show upon which this is based. Typically I like the books so much better in that situation. It was the absolutely top experience reading all the Mankell Kurt Wallender books and the Steig Larssen Lizabeth Salander books. Another reviewer here at Amazon says that the problem could be a really bad translation of the Huss books. Whatever is the basis of the problem, there is no getting around that the prose in the first Huss book is just downright plodding. The mystery itself is intricate and well done but it really became an effort to keep turning the pages.

The plot revolves around an incredibly wealthy Swede who is thrown from the balcony of his penthouse to the street below. He is dead on impact. The two most likely suspects, his wife and son, are in the street below so they couldn't have thrown him from the balcony. A host of other suspects gradually come to light as the detectives keep picking at the case. Huss is one of the inspectors in the Violent Crimes squad who is responsible for solving the case. Meanwhile she has two teen daughters, a dog and a chef husband to juggle.

I realize that translated Baltic mysteries are hot right now but this book did not live up to expectations or the enthusiastic reviews on Amazon. The plot seemed rather contrived, the writing lackluster, the ending predictable by the half-way point. I had to drag myself through it. Some of this might be the translator, I suppose, but the book was just not that interesting regardless.