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An Inspector Vaara Novel
by James Thompson
The Sufia Elmi case left Kari Vaara with a scarred face, chronic insomnia, a constant migraine, and a full body count's worth of ghosts. Now it's a year later, in Helsinki, and Kari is working the graveyard shift in the homicide unit, terrified that his heavily pregnant wife will miscarry again after she lost the twins just after Christmas.
Kari is pushed into investigating a ninety-year-old national hero for war crimes committed during World War II. The Interior Minister demands a conclusion of innocence, preserving Finland's heroic perception about itself and its role in the war, but Germany wants extradition.
In a seeming coincidence, Kari is drawn into the murder-by-torture case of Lisa Filippov, the philandering wife of a Russian businessman. Her lover is clearly being framed for the crime - and Ivan Filippov's arrogance and nonchalance point the finger at him. But he's being protected from above, leading Kari to the corrupt corridors of power. Soon the past and present collide in ways no one could have anticipated.
"Starred Review. Thompson elegantly threads Finland's compelling national history with Vaara's own demons in this taut, emotionally wrought novel." - Publishers Weekly
"Thompson, an American expat living in Finland, tends to let his affinity for multiple story lines get the better of him. Fortunately, his intriguing insights into Nordic cultures help compensate, as does the book's hard-boiled sensibility." - Library Journal
"Starred Review. Nazi collaboration, government cover-ups, kinky sex, a baby daughter waiting impatiently to be born and a vigilante-minded hero who talks back to his boss more irreverently than Dirty Harry. What more could you want?" - Kirkus Reviews
"Starred Review. Essential reading for all fans of Arnaldur Indridason, Stieg Larsson, Henning Mankell, and Jo Nesbo." - Booklist
This information about Lucifer's Tears was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
This is the second in the series following Snow Angels (2010).
James Thompson, eastern Kentucky born and raised, has lived in Finland for the past dozen years. Before becoming a full-time writer, Thompson studied Finnish (in which he is fluent) and Swedish and worked as a bartender, bouncer, construction worker, photographer, rare-coin dealer, and solider.
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