A severed body is found in a suitcase in a park in Copenhagen. Annette Werner from the Violent Crimes Unit is given the lead on the investigation. In this novel, she’s working alone because her partner Jeppe Karner is on leave living on the Danish Island of Bornholm where he is working at the local sawmill as a lumberjack. His friend Ester di Laurenti is also on the island researching the life of a female anthropologist for a biography she’s writing.
Annette discovers a connection between the island and the crime. She’s working with the local police, but with her partner, Jeppe, there she feels comfortable asking him to look around for a missing person who may be the body. Ester is also engaged when reading the anthropologist’s letters it appears that the past secrets in the letters may relate to the present crime.
This is the fifth book in the series, but is easy to read as a standalone. The author makes her characters come alive through details of their personal lives which helps the reader understand the interactions between them. I thought the characterization was one of the main pluses in the book.
The book is a somewhat gruesome police procedural due to the nature of the crime. If you find that objectionable this may not be your book. However, the plot, although moving at a moderate pace, is well done with plenty of clues and twists to keep you reading. The ending is somewhat of a surprise, but is well foreshadowed by the action.
I received this book from Gallery Books for this review.
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