- Hardcover: 512 pages
- Publisher: Michael Joseph (10 Jan. 2019)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0241372100
- ISBN-13: 978-0241372104
Synopsis
One blustery October morning in a quiet Copenhagen suburb, the police make a terrible discovery. A young woman is found brutally murdered with one of her hands missing. Above her hangs a small doll made of chestnuts.
Ambitious young detective Naia Thulin is assigned the case. Her partner, Mark Hess, is a burned-out investigator who’s just been kicked out of Europol. They soon discover a mysterious piece of evidence on the chestnut man – evidence connecting it to a girl who went missing a year earlier and is presumed dead; the daughter of politician Rosa Hartung. But the man who confessed to her murder is already behind bars and the case long since closed.
Soon afterwards, a second woman is found murdered, along with another chestnut man. Thulin and Hess suspect that there’s a connection between the Hartung case and the murdered women. But what is it?
Thulin and Hess are racing against the clock, because it’s clear that the killer is on a mission that is far from over . . .
Synopsis
Last year at this time we were all talking about The Chalk Man, but this year it is going to be all about The Chestnut Man. Written by Søren Sveistrup, the creator of the TV drama The Killing, this is a fast paced, dark and disturbing crime thriller. The narration focuses on Rosa Hartung who as just returned to work a year after her daughter went missing, presumed murdered; Naia Thulin who is part of the murder squad; and Mark Hess, seconded to the murder squad after an incident at Europol. These three narratives give different perspectives to the murder investigation, and the hunt for the killer.
The Chestnut Man grabs your attention from the first chapter and draws you in. Disturbing and grisly at times, this book has so many twists and turns it makes you dizzy, and keeps you guessing. Interestingly, the two people on the case, Thulin and Hess, have an unconventional relationship. Neither want to work with each other or be on the case. Thulin is waiting for a transfer to another department, and Hess is waiting for his imminent return to Europol. They spend most of the time investigating the murders separately, bringing different ideas to light, but ultimately their different styles compliment each other. I really enjoyed their different relationship, it added to the suspense and gave a different dimension to the story.
There is no doubt of Søren Sveistrup’s credentials as a crime writer, but this is his first novel, and hopefully not his last. I found this a deliciously dark and disturbing read at times, and I was totally engrossed in the plot and the characters. This is certainly action packed, with what seem disparate story lines coming together to what I felt was shocking and thrilling conclusion. My only complaint would be that the narration jumps around quite a bit so you are not quite sure whose narrative you are reading. I think this could be due to the fact that this is a translated text, and as the saying goes somethings to get lost in translation.
I found The Chestnut Man to be an intelligent, gripping and immersive read; I read seventy percent in one day as I had to know how it ended. The combination of crime thriller, domestic fiction and interesting characters draw you in and make this such a sensationally sinister read. I am going to predict that The Chestnut Man will be a bestseller in 2019, deliciously dark and disturbing, I loved it
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