A stolen BMW leads to a high-speed chase and a hit-and-run fatality in Göteborg, Sweden. When the stolen car is found, search dogs can't trace the thieves, but they do find the corpse of a young girl in a nearby cellar. It's up to Detective Inspector Irene Huss and the Violent Crimes Unit to find the answers, and one of the very first answers they find is that the victim of the hit-and-run is not only the owner of the stolen BMW, he's a retired police officer. Is this some sort of strange coincidence? It's something that Huss has to find out while the young girl's murder pulls her inexorably into the world of sex trafficking.
I always enjoy visiting the world of Detective Inspector Irene Huss, former national jujitsu champion, mother of twin girls, and head of the Violent Crimes Unit. The Beige Man is no exception. A great deal of the allure of this series is how the main character juggles her personal and professional lives. In this seventh book of the series, Huss has two truly mystifying investigations, one of which takes her to the Canary Islands to follow a lead. At the same time her two daughters are leaving the nest, and her aging mother's health demands that Irene give her special care and attention. Some readers don't care for police procedurals that delve deeply into the characters' lives, but-- as long as the mystery itself doesn't suffer-- I like them. There have to be thousands of police officers all over the world who have to deal with these same demands on their time on a daily basis, and I believe bringing some sort of focus on their personal lives gives true insight into how they manage to get it all done (or in some cases don't get it all done).
While I did enjoy becoming up-to-date with the events of Huss's personal life, I found her two investigations truly puzzling. It wasn't until I had the full advantage of hindsight that I realized I hadn't paid enough attention to the implications of a conversation Huss had had with another character towards the beginning of The Beige Man. It's not often that I'm totally surprised by the solution to a case, so this was certainly a treat.
If you'd like to conduct your own investigation into Swedish crime fiction, I recommend Helene Tursten's Detective Inspector Irene Huss series. Good mysteries, and Huss is interesting whether she's at home or on the job. She's also one of the few police officers who has a boss who may be a jerk, but he's a jerk with depth. (How's that for a character reference?)
The Beige Man by Helene Tursten
Translated from the Swedish by Marlaine Delargy
ISBN: 9781616954000
Soho Press © 2015
Hardcover, 320 pages
Police Procedural, #7 Detective Inspector Irene Huss mystery
Rating: A
Source: the publisher
Oh, I'm a fan of this series too, Cathy. I really like the 'inside look' you get at police work, and I like the way Tursten weaves in Huss' personal life too, without going overboard so to speak. Glad you enjoyed this one.
ReplyDeleteThere has yet to be a book in this series that I haven't enjoyed, Margot. :-)
Delete'A jerk with depth' - OK, then. Another series that has been on my list for a really, really long time. Perhaps I'll get to the first book this year.
ReplyDeleteIt's a never-ending struggle isn't it, Kay?
DeleteI'm glad to see you liked this addition to the Irene Huss canon. I like this series and am crossing my fingers that the library will get it fairly soon, instead of imposing an embargo on global books these days.
ReplyDeleteI like how Tursten weaves the professional and personal lives of the main character, including that her spouse is a chef and cooks family meals that make me hungry.
MHZ Networks sells the Huss series and played some of the TV episodes last year. One was harrowing with one of her teen-age daughters in serious danger.
Thanks for the heads up-- now I have another mystery series to look for to keep my mind occupied while I knit in the evenings. Don't tell anyone, but I think I'm related to Miss Marple!
DeleteYou do? I secretly wish I was related to V.I. Warshawski; she is physically fit, courageous, feisty and independent, is a dog lover and has great friends.
ReplyDeleteI don't particularly want to be related to Miss Marple, but I'm beginning to see how knitting aids in deduction. I talk about it a bit more in my link round-up that will post on Friday.
DeleteKnitting? How interesting. I guess one can think about other things while knitting.
ReplyDeleteI am thrilled that my library has this book, and I'm one of only a few reserve requests, so I should get it soon.
I'm glad to hear that you shouldn't have to wait for it long, Kathy.
DeleteThank you. I can stop stewing because I can't get Entry Island because the library has one copy and it's noncirculating and up at the main library. So this should help assuage me for awhile.
ReplyDeleteNoncirculating? That would make it rather difficult to read, wouldn't it. Too bad. Entry Island is a good book.
DeleteThat's enough for an entire blog post and more. My library system -- in one of the major U.S. cities -- has for the past few years culled and put in storage or thrown out tons of book classics or even what they term "older" books. I even bought a copy of Denise Mina's "Garnethill" so a friend could read it because the library doesn't have it any more!
ReplyDeleteSo, lots of books I want to read exist only at the main library noncirculating, with only one copy! And this in a city of 10 million people! Many of us can't travel up to Midtown and sit and read, like people who work, live in other boroughs, have children, are older or have disabilities.
Yet the buyers will purchase 400 dvd's of a George Clooney movie. It makes no
sense. Shouldn't they be promoting reading?
From what I understand, there are a lot of patrons who come into a library for every other service they provide other than reading. With so many ignorant officials who think the best and easiest way to balance budgets is to cut library funds and/or close libraries, I can see library directors scrambling to keep as many people as possible coming in through the doors even if the only thing they're looking for is George Clooney. But this behavior certainly doesn't set well with my desire to get as many people reading as possible!
DeleteNor mine. As a society, we should all be promoting reading, especially for children and youth, and not just texting and being on social media. This is a loss to young people.
ReplyDeleteMy own library branch, which used to have three bookshelves of mysteries, now doesn't even have one, and there is barely any other fiction.
The front shelves have best-sellers or books by bet-selling authors. Nothing to promote intellectual curiosity, no challenges.
Where would I have been without The Grapes of Wrath, Beloved, The Color Purple, The Jungle, etc., etc. (and mysteries, too.) My scientific brain was aided by Sherlock Holmes and other detectives.
I would absolutely hate it if my reading choices were limited to bestsellers!
DeleteWell, that and big name authors' books are what you see when you walk into the library near my house. There are few books, some computers and shelves of dvds.
ReplyDeleteOne has to go into the computerized system and put books on reserve and the branch will get them, if they're to be gotten. They don't buy many new books, especially global ones, although, as I've said, they buy hundreds of dvds with big name celebrities in them.