Woman with Birthmark (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) [Paperback]

Hakan Nesser (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 9, 2010 | Series: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard

International Bestseller 

Chief Inspector Van Veeteren is on the case once more in this breathless thriller of deception, blackmail, and cold murder.
 
Van Veeteren and his associates are left bewildered by the curious murder of a man shot twice in the heart and twice below the belt. An utterly dull man, the only suspicious activity his surviving wife can report is a series of peculiar phone calls. Repeatedly the telephone would ring, offering no answer but an obscure pop song from the 1960s. This siren song would be linked to an identical murder, but the true connection remains unknown. With a cool, critical eye, Van Veeteren pursues his subject across the country, wading through outrageous leads and fruitless tips in this chilling mystery from master crime novelist Håkan Nesser.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Chief Insp. Van Veeteren heads a sterling ensemble cast in Nesser's fine police procedural, his second (after Borkmann's Point) to win the best novel award from the Swedish Crime Writers' Academy. A nameless young woman, soon after burying her mother and learning what sealed her mother's fate and her own, embarks on a ruthless course of vengeance. While the woman's motivation remains vague, her method is crystal clear—killing shots at close range followed by additional shots below the belt. There are virtually no clues when the first victim is found, and precious few when the second occurs less than two weeks later. Slow, meticulous police work eventually produces a tenuous connection between the victims—one that suggests a potential pool of almost 30 targets. Nesser keeps readers guessing whether the killer will complete her gruesome task before the police can uncover the fatal link that binds killer and victims. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Inspector Van Veeteren would like nothing better than to sleep through the entire month of January, as winter in Sweden makes the usually volatile detective slow and cranky. Naturally, he is not happy when his team is assigned the case of a man shot in the heart and the groin in his own front hallway. Neither clues nor motives are forthcoming until another man is shot in the same way, with the same weapon. This fourth series entry (following Mind’s Eye, 2008) is one of the best of the lot in terms of character development, and it’s right up there in plotting, too. The taut, fast-paced, and enthralling story intersperses scenes of the killer with scenes of the investigation, a technique that serves to ratchet suspense ever tighter. Fans of Karin Fossum will enjoy the peek into the mind of the murderer, and devotees of Jo Nesbo and Henning Mankell will agree that Nesser belongs in that select circle of A-list Scandinavian crime novelists. --Jessica Moyer --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (March 9, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307387232
• ISBN-13: 978-0307387233
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #167,837 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #21 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Instruction > Scandinavian

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Engrossing Scandinavian police procedural, April 28, 2009

By 

Z Hayes (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Woman with Birthmark: An Inspector Van Veeteren Mystery (Inspector Van Veeteren Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Lately, I've been on a Scandinavian mysteries book binge - Karin Fossum ["The Indian Bride", "Don't Look Back"] is my favorite author, but I've also enjoyed the works of Arnaldur Indridason ["The Draining Lake"], Henning Mankell etc.

Hakan Nesser does not disappoint in his latest Insp Van Veeteren mystery, "Woman With Birthmark". The storyline itself is intriguing - a young woman is so affected by her mother's dying words that she undertakes a vendetta against those she deems wrongdoers. She undergoes a major transformation, changes her appearance, and `returns' as a sort of grim reaper, dispatching said wrongdoers with aplomb. Prior to each murder, there is a phone call, with identical music [in each case] being heard in the background.

Enter Insp Van Veeteren, a veteran who has had his share of disturbing cases [the Insp Van Veeteren Series]. As the body count rises, Van Veeteren finds himself on the heels of a remarkably able and clever nemesis. The characters in this novel are well-delineated and complex, and the pacing of the plot is just right, drawing readers in and engaging our attention for the duration. Highly recommended for fans of psychological thrillers and suspense novels, and especially for those who have developed a literary taste for Scandinavian thrillers.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A police procedural, and yet a deeply tragic tale, August 9, 2009

By 

Neal C. Reynolds (Indianapolis, Indiana) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Woman with Birthmark: An Inspector Van Veeteren Mystery (Inspector Van Veeteren Mysteries) (Hardcover)

The Scandinavian mysteries by writers like Karin Fossum and Jo Nesbo have especially tragic themes. While most of this novel centers on the police investigation, those sequences told from the murderer's or the targetted victims' perspective heighten that tragic aspect. This is no whodunit. You know the murderess from the start and can pretty well figure her motivation for revenge. Nor iis there much in the way of true suspense. However, the author holds us in a hypnotic spell as if on is witnessing a train wreck....horrified by the events but unable to avert one's eyes. If you haven't yet encountered any Scandinavian crime novels, this is a good plce to start. And if you're already familiar with the crime literature from those countries, Hakan Nesser is one more author to add to your reading list.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Revenge Is Swedish, April 28, 2009

By 

Tom S. "filmfan3" (New York City) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Woman with Birthmark: An Inspector Van Veeteren Mystery (Inspector Van Veeteren Mysteries) (Hardcover)

A mother's deathbed request. An obsessed young woman. A sudden spate of identical murders where the victims are seemingly unrelated. These ingredients are familiar to mystery fans, but Hakan Nesser finds a fascinating new way to tell the story. His melancholy Scandinavian cop, Inspector Van Veeteren ("VV" to his loyal assistants), takes on the case the way he always does, slowly and carefully. As the police begin to close in on the shadowy perpetrator, VV can't help but feel a grudging admiration for his opponent. And the killing isn't over....

This is the 4th of Nesser's award-winning series to arrive in the U.S., and it's a good one. The moody Van Veeteren and his colorful team are always entertaining, and they work well together to solve even the toughest cases. And this case, with its back-and-forth shifts between the good guys and the mysterious woman, is constantly lively. If you're a fan of police procedurals in interesting places, you'll definitely want to add Nesser to your list of "must-reads." Recommended.