Horrible translation

I really wanted to like this book, but I was seriously underwhelmed. I think authors are supposed to “show, not tell,” and this book could really benefit from less telling and more showing. It wasn’t hard to figure out who did what, and the plot points that were somewhat mysterious were revealed in two discrete chapters that felt like awkward information dumps that just got crammed into the book.

Solid first in a series mystery. The translation is a bit clunky at times and there is A LOT about hunting, but overall, it's good. I'll look for the others in the series.

The characters seemed a bit cold and hard to relate to in this book, but I’m not sure how much of that is the writing style & translation.

Not a bad story but the middle part of the book did drag on awhile longer than I felt like it should’ve, even though this is a fairly short book (278 pages).

Helene Tursten is a good writer. This is not a good book, and that is 100% because of Embla, the protagonist. Embla is a reckless idiot, and entirely unbelievable as a police officer. First off, to fall into bed multiple times with someone who, from the first instance, she gets weird vibes from and even suspects of things is unprofessional and moronic - honestly it's such a conflict of interests she should be at minimum officially reprimanded and placed on leave.

Second of all, to cover up the fact that she did in fact fuck a dude she was essentially investigating, she decides to fabricate a rape claim for no reason other than she doesn't want people to find out they had consensual sex. Where is the fucking integrity? And just so it's clear, the entire thing is not a commentary on police corruption or anything of the sort, it's very blatant that we're supposed to excuse Embla's lying because the other dude did Bad Things and therefore a false rape claim is totally justified. Like, bitch no. You stymied your own investigation and lied and did things to jeopardize the investigation as a whole, and apparently have no qualms about lying during this inquiry in order to save your own ass.

If you want to read about a Very Stupid and Not Capable Detective, this is the book for you. I guess we're supposed to like and forgive Embla because she's "badass" and a competitive boxer or whatever, and therefore a Strong Female Character, but her incompetence, shocking stupidity, and selfishness are such huge, glaring flaws that she becomes completely unlikable and irredeemable.

Oh, and to add insult to injury, Embla's entire vibe is the whole "I'm not like other girls" schtick, which is highly irritating from a grown-ass woman in a professional role.

I love how Tursten always gives you a seemingly good character and then it turns out that they are quite Machiavellian. It's my new favourite thing.


The story in itself isn't exciting, but it's readable. The last few chapters are amazing, though.


**This concludes day 1 of my reading marathon.
Total books read: 1/10

I never understand the common plot of crime-fighter sleeps with criminal. And in this case she was drawn to his moments of darkness? huh?