Protected by the Shadows by Helene Tursten

First Line: The delivery car moved slowly along Ringövägen as the driver spoke agitatedly on his cell phone.

Gang warfare is about to explode in Göteborg, Sweden. A member of a notorious biker gang has been burned alive. Anticipating a counterattack, Detective Inspector Irene Huss, her Violent Crimes Unit, and the Organized Crimes Unit band together to patrol a lavish party given by a rival gang, but that doesn't stop another murder from occurring practically right under their noses.

And when it rains, it pours. A bomb is planted under Irene's husband's car, and-- fearing for her family's safety-- Irene sends her husband and daughters into hiding and moves in with a colleague for the duration. She is not going to stop until the killers are behind bars and her family is safe, and it's not going to be an easy task. Not only does Irene have the feeling that she's being stalked, the gangs are always one step ahead of the police.

It's sad to see this series come to an end, but it certainly goes out on a strong note. Protected by the Shadows is filled with bodies, bombs, informants, and danger. Tursten keeps the level of suspense high from beginning to end. I was particularly happy to see that everything was handled intelligently. When Irene's family is forced into hiding, every detail is done the right way. Irene may be very frightened, but she keeps her head and keeps on working-- refusing to stop until the bad guys are caught and everyone is safe. It is such a treat to read a high-octane story like this and not witness any of the characters doing something stupid.

This series has been a favorite of mine from the first book, both for the investigations and for the characters and the insight into their daily lives. I will miss reading the new adventures of Irene Huss, but I have to admit that I'm wondering if Helene Tursten has something new up her sleeve.

Protected by the Shadows by Helene Tursten

Translated from the Swedish by Marlaine Delargy

ISBN: 9781616958459

Soho Crime © 2017

Hardcover, 288 pages

Police Procedural, #10 DI Irene Huss mystery

Rating: A-

Source: the publisher 

Who Watcheth by Helene Tursten

First Line: With me they are safe.

A dead woman, strangled and covered in plastic, is found in a cemetery. Just days earlier the woman had received a flower, a photo of herself, and a nonsensical note. With neither clue nor motive, Detective Inspector Irene Huss and her colleagues in the Violent Crimes Unit in Göteborg, Sweden, have nothing to go on, and when similar murders occur, they are all desperate for a lead to find this killer. 

While all this is going on, strange things are happening at Irene's own home. Items are moved, things are damaged, and she receives a threatening package with no return address. Is Irene on the killer's list, or is she just being paranoid?

Helene Tursten's latest Irene Huss mystery is even leaner and meaner than previous novels. While changes continue to occur in the lives of empty nesters Irene and Krister, Irene is under a very real-- and very creepy-- threat. When no connections are found between the victims, it is steady, dogged police work that wins the day. Never give up. Keep knocking on doors. Keep asking questions. Keep going over and over the evidence for that one tiny clue that will break things wide open. There's something to be said for police officers in crime fiction who are lavishly endowed with intuition, but I also admire a never-say-die attitude and plenty of hard work. 

Tursten does an excellent job of ratcheting up the suspense in this very enjoyable police procedural, and Irene Huss continues to be one of my favorite characters. The author also addresses a couple of points that drive me crazy not only in crime fiction and film but in real life. Whether in a vehicle or on foot, you should always have good knowledge of your surroundings. Know the neighborhood in which you live. Don't travel the streets wearing earbuds or with your face buried in a cell phone. And for crying out loud, close your curtains when it gets dark! Don't provide any- and everyone with something they can't resist watching. I learned the hard way: no matter how uninteresting you may feel yourself to be, there is always someone who finds you fascinating. Tursten is well aware of these things, and she's used them to write an exciting tale that can make your skin crawl.
 

Who Watcheth by Helene Tursten
Translated from the Swedish by Marlaine Delargy

ISBN: 9781616954048

Soho Crime © 2016

Hardcover, 304 pages

Police Procedural, #9 Detective Inspector Irene Huss

Rating: A-

Source: the publisher  


 

The Treacherous Net by Helene Tursten

First Line: Elof Persson had to die.

Göteborg, Sweden's  Violent Crimes Unit has its hands full. The city is experiencing an ongoing problem with gang violence, a mummified body has been found at a demolition site, and the body of a teenage girl has been discovered in the woods. The unit is stretched thin, but its new superintendent refuses to ask for additional help. As far as Detective Inspector Irene Huss is concerned, that new superintendent is a problem in and of herself. Efva Thylqvist ignores the women on her team, instead spending her time using her sex appeal to keep all the males under her thumb. 

Huss will have to deal with Thylqvist, but it will have to wait. The body of a second young girl has been found, and there are strong links tying her to the first girl. Irene and her colleagues soon find themselves in the shadowy world of online predators and insecure teenage girls. They have to move fast before any more young women die.

It's always a pleasure to catch up with Detective Inspector Irene Huss. Not only are there fascinating cases to solve, but Huss has such an interesting personal life. In The Treacherous Net we get to see her twin daughters leaving the nest and the problems her aging mother is beginning to have. It's amazing how anyone can do a job as well as Irene when you consider just how busy she is, and that's part of her charm for me-- watching how she manages to take care of everything.

As nice as it is to catch up with Irene's personal life, I have to admit that this book-- although good-- is not a strong book in the series, and it's all to do with the two plotlines.  The cold case involving the mummified body at the demolition site is moderately intriguing, but it detracts from the internet serial killer plot. This second plot is strong and engaging, but its momentum is killed each time the cold case rears its head. The cold case, with its World War II and 1983 ties, is not strong enough to carry an entire book. Using it in a novella would have been better. The focus would've stayed on the internet serial killer, and I would have been turning pages so fast that they would've caught fire.

Although flawed, The Treacherous Net is still an entertaining read in a very strong and very highly recommended series.
    

The Treacherous Net by Helene Tursten

Translated from the Swedish by Marlaine Delargy

ISBN: 9781616954024
Soho Crime © 2015
Hardcover, 320 pages

Police Procedural, #8 Irene Huss mystery
Rating: B-
Source: the publisher  

The Beige Man by Helene Tursten

First Line: The new moon and the stars shone as brightly as diamonds in the blue-black January sky.

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


 

The Fire Dance by Helene Tursten

First Line: The noise and heat from the crowd rose toward the ceiling and mixed with cigarette smoke in a thick smog around the chandeliers.

When Detective Inspector Irene Huss of the Violent Crimes Unit in Göteborg, Sweden, begins to investigate the missing persons case of Sophie Malmborg, she finds herself thinking of the first time she met the young girl. Fifteen years before, Huss was on her first big case. Sophie's stepfather died in a house fire, and although a few people suspected that the strange little girl had set fire to her own house, nothing was ever proved. Huss was told to move on to more pressing cases, but she'd always believed that she'd let Sophie-- and herself-- down.

Sophie went on to become a talented ballet dancer. Too tall to dance professionally, Sophie had turned to choreography, and her work The Fire Dance was to premiere. But now she's missing, and the charred remains of a dancer have been found in an abandoned warehouse. Huss can't help but think that the old case she wasn't allowed to solve is tied to this newest one.

Once again Helene Tursten has crafted a story in which the personal relationships of the characters blend seamlessly with the police investigation. The Fire Dance allows us to see Huss as a police officer who's still finding her way through the political dynamics of her job, and as a new wife and mother as well. The new perspective adds depth to the story, as does the cold case.

Sophie Malmborg is one of the most interesting characters I've come across in a long time: prickly, almost totally uncommunicative, she sees life through the prism of her passion for dance,  and she refuses to bow to anyone else's demands that she change. A reader can't help but want to know what makes her tick.

Although we get an honest picture of why it can take so long to solve a crime in any large city, Huss's family life still plays an important role in the book. Her twin daughters are both about to fly the nest, and her husband is still Irene's rock. Between a heavy caseload and two girls willfully expressing their independence, Irene definitely needs a devoted and loving husband like Krister.

For the first time in this series (I've read all the books as they've been translated into English), I felt let down by the solution to the crime. It was just way too obvious to me and took away some of my enjoyment of the book. Is The Fire Dance still good? You bet it is, especially due to the strong cast of characters Tursten has created-- and those characters have more than one surprise in store for readers like me who have followed this series from the start.

The Fire Dance by Helene Tursten

ISBN: 9781616950118

Soho Crime © 2014

eBook, 336 pages

Police Procedural, #6 Detective Inspector Irene Huss mystery

Rating: B

Source: Publisher

The Golden Calf by Helene Tursten

First Line: Fuzzy images from the bank's security cameras flickered across the TV screen.

Three men have been shot and killed in one of Göteborg, Sweden's  most fashionable neighborhoods. All three victims have ties to the same woman (Sanna Kaegler-Ceder), but Detective Inspector Irene Huss and her colleagues are still led a merry dance through the world of the rich and shameless because Sanna seems extremely unwilling to talk about what she knows-- even when her life and the life of her infant son are at stake.

When Irene is left to dig through details of the dot-com bubble and how it burst, she also has to deal with the strange behavior of her partner and long-time friend Tommy. Irene suspects that he may be having an affair with someone else on the police force, but she certainly hopes she's wrong.

Helene Tursten's series featuring jiujitsu champion and happily married mother of twin teenage daughters Detective Inspector Irene Huss has become one of my favorite Scandinavian mystery series. As in her other books, The Golden Calf has a plot with more twists and turns than a mountain road high in the Andes, but while you're enjoying a devious storyline, there are always some characters for you to appreciate, too.

In this book, one of the suspects/potential victims, Sanna Kaegler-Ceder, is very memorable indeed. At first, she's so glamorously in shock that the reader is willing to cut her plenty of slack for her behavior. But as more is learned of her past, and when it becomes clear that there is a lot Sanna knows that could dramatically speed up the investigation, the reader's compassion quickly turns to exasperation. Why doesn't she seem to care that the life of her baby is in danger? Why doesn't she even care that her life is in danger, too? Sanna is the catalyst that keeps us reading until everything is revealed.

But Sanna isn't the only memorable character in Helene Tursten's book. Irene Huss herself has kept me returning to this series time and again. She's tall, athletic, and a quiet, observant person who knows when to be forceful. Irene and her husband, Krister, have raised two twin girls who are just about ready to leave the nest. They're both still sane and happily married because of their priorities. Irene is the breadwinner of the family. Krister is an excellent chef who works part-time so the twins can be cared for and the house can run smoothly while Irene is working long hours on murder investigations. Irene and Krister have certain blocks of time each week that they spend just the two of them together, and those times are always greatly anticipated. Many couples should take a page out of their book.

But while Irene's marriage is just as strong as ever, her partner and best friend, Tommy, isn't so lucky. Watching Irene as Tommy's troubles start coming to her attention, as she begins "gathering evidence" before she talks with him, and the final confrontation and its aftermath... watching this long-standing friendship sort itself out through a difficult stretch is every bit as comforting as once again experiencing the love and domesticity of Irene and Krister's marriage.

Helene Tursten knows how to write deftly plotted police procedurals that have characters that live and breathe on the page. Whenever I need a bit of a Scandinavian crime fix, it's always a pleasure to turn to Detective Inspector Irene Huss.

The Golden Calf by Helene Tursten

Translated by Laura A. Wideburg

ISBN: 9781616950088

Soho Crime © 2013

Hardcover, 340 pages

Police Procedural, #6 Detective Inspector Irene Huss mystery

Rating: A

Source: The publisher.

Night Rounds by Helene Tursten

Title: Night Rounds
Author: Helene Tursten
Translated by: Laura A. Wideburg
ISBN: 9781616950064
Publisher: Soho Crime, 2012
Hardcover, 336 pages
Genre: Police Procedural, #2 Detective Inspector Irene Huss mystery
Rating: B+
Source: Amazon Vine


First Line: "You're absolutely certain this was the nurse you saw last night?"


An old hospital is hit by a blackout. When the lights come back on, one nurse is dead and another has vanished. There's only one witness, and she claims that Nurse Tekla is responsible. The witness isn't being taken seriously because Nurse Tekla died in the hospital over sixty years ago.

Enter Irene Huss, a former Ju-Jitsu champion, the mother of twin teenage girls, the wife of a successful chef, and a Detective Inspector in the Violent Crimes Unit of Goteborg, Sweden. It is her responsibility to make sense of doctors, nurses, patients, ghosts... and all the complex relationships involved.

This is one series that's hurt by the way it's being published in the US. Undoubtedly due to legalities beyond my ken, the publishing order has been #1, #3, #5, and now with Night Rounds, #2. I read a lot of series, and I like to read them in order as much as possible, but in this case, I'd need to learn Swedish in order to do so. Irene Huss is a woman whose personal life is very much a part of the story and of the sort of character she is. Reading these books out of sequence is a bit like repeatedly stubbing your toe-- When did he? Why are they? She stopped? How did? Huh? If you like to read series (and read them in order), you might want to keep this in mind. If you're coming to Night Rounds with a clean slate, this won't make a bit of difference, so we'll move right along.

Perhaps it's because she's in her forties, but Irene Huss seems to size up everyone she meets by how they look. It's a bit annoying, but I think it's meant to convey the fact that Irene feels time is marching on and she's ageing faster than she'd like. This habit has everything to do with her, and very little to do with the people with whom she's comparing herself. As I said earlier, Irene's personal life has a great deal to do with the type of inspector she is and with the action in the book. This adds a dimension to the book that I really enjoy. Police who are The Job and nothing but The Job tend to become boring.

Irene's investigation is anything but boring. She and her team are stymied at every turn in that old, crumbling pile of a hospital with its one doctor and tales of the nurse who hung herself in the attic. The entire building seems filled with lurking shadows and breathy whispers. The case keeps returning to Nurse Tekla, Nurse Tekla, Nurse Tekla until Irene wants to scream.

The only way she can get rid of Nurse Tekla is by doing the job painstakingly. By interviewing every person. By checking all the records. By knocking on every door. By double-checking. By triple-checking. It's long hard work, but Huss and her team are up to the task of taking the focus off the ghost stories and turning it on a very real killer. Helene Tursten's series is a fine blend of character study and police procedural, and regardless of their publishing order, I enjoy reading her books.

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The Glass Devil by Helene Tursten

Title: The Glass Devil
Author: Helene Tursten
Translated by: Katarina Tucker
ISBN: 9781569474891
Publisher: Soho Crime, 2008
Paperback, 320 pages
Genre: Police Procedural, #3 Detective Inspector Irene Huss mystery
Rating: B+
Source: Paperback Swap

First Line: Everything had seemed perfect.

After finding Jacob Schyttelius shot to death in his isolated cottage, Detective Inspector Irene Huss and her team from the Violent Crimes Unit in Göteborg, Sweden, visit his parents. Schyttelius's parents have also been shot to death, and the computer monitor in their home-- like Jacob's-- has a Satanic symbol painted on it in their own blood. Both computers' hard drives have been professionally wiped, and the only lead Huss has-- Jacob's sister in London-- is so devastated by the tragedy that she's unable to be of much help. It will be a long and difficult investigation before Irene Huss can solve this case.

There's really not that much mystery to this book. I found the whodunit easy to put together, and how the murderer's confession was handled didn't quite set well with me. (It was a case of tell rather than show.) Be that as it may, I really enjoyed the book for Tursten's portrayal of a female detective inspector trying to juggle her profession and her family life. Huss is one of the few members of the fictional police force of the world that I know who actually has a good family life.

Huss got to travel to London, and it was interesting to see England through the eyes of a Swede. There's also a scene in London that came out of nowhere and startled me, which was a definite plus. I do tend to like surprises that make me blink and reread a paragraph because something happened that I did not expect.

Tursten not only does an excellent job of portraying Irene Huss, she brings a homicide investigation to life with its slow, methodical piecing together of conjecture, clues and evidence. I almost felt as though I were a part of the investigative team.

There are only three books in the Irene Huss series so far, and I have come to the end, which is sad. I like this series, and I hope that there will be more in the future.

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