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Book Summary and Reviews of The Inspector and Silence by Hakan Nesser

The Inspector and Silence by Hakan Nesser

The Inspector and Silence

An Inspector Van Veeteren Mystery

by Hakan Nesser

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  • Published:
  • Jun 2011, 304 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

It is summer in Sweden. A secretive and dubious religious sect comes under investigation when a girl on the cusp of adolescence is found dead in the forest near the sect's holiday camp, brutally raped and strangled. Inspector Van Veeteren and the other detectives on the case are mystified and infuriated when the members of the Pure Life - led by a charismatic but unnervingly guarded messiah figure - choose to remain silent about the incident rather than defend themselves. Assisting the authorities, however, is an unidentified woman, whose knowledge suggests she's more than just a passing good Samaritan. And her tips become doubly perplexing as a string of increasingly horrifying new crimes defy everything the police thought they knew about the case.
 
"Nessers novels look for the roots of crime in the ills of society...He has seized his chance to create his own dark poetry from these stark materials, and the effect is haunting." - The Wall Street Journal

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"A taut and compelling mystery in a consistently outstanding series." - Booklist

"Starred Review. [A] fine fourth Inspector Van Veeteren mystery." - Publishers Weekly

"[The Inpector and Silence] builds slowly, the grim haunting plot perfectly suited to the methodical, stoic hero." - Kirkus Reviews

"This is stylish, atmospheric crime fiction with a strong moral core from an award-winning author; essential for readers of the genre." - Library Journal

This information about The Inspector and Silence 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.

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More Information

Håkan Nesser was awarded the 1993 Swedish Crime Writers' Academy Prize for new authors for Mind's Eye; he received the best novel award in 1994 for Borkmann's Point and in 1996 for Woman with Birthmark. In 1999 he was awarded the Crime Writers of Scandinavia's Glass Key Award for the best crime novel of the year for Carambole. Nesser lives in Sweden and New York. For more information, visit his website at http://www.hakannesser.com/.

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