A Few More Scandinavians

This summer has been unusually rich in new releases. Just during the last month, we've had a new Hakan Nesser, Karin Fossum and Camille Lackberg as well as someone totally new to the scene.
The Hypnotist is by Lars Kepler who is being touted as the next Stieg Larsson, a sales handle we'll no doubt be hearing until the next Stieg Larsson. Unfortunately, Kepler is no reincarnation. The jacket states that Kepler "is a pseudonym for a literary couple" and this could explain the at times awkward flow of the story and change in narrative pace. Still, the story is brilliant in parts though not altogether original. The slaughter of a family with the sole survivor in mute shock is something we see on a regular basis on T.V., something The Mentalist does in an entertaining hour.
As with many of the Scandinavians, Nesser isn't translated often enough to make it easy to keep track of his characters. (Unfortunately perhaps, he has one of the best and most prolific translators going--Laurie Thompson, who also works with Henning Mankell.) Luckily, his individual novels are strong enough to stand on their own, though it would be nice to not have to backtrack with each allusion to a personal relationship or old case. In The Inspector and Silence, Van Veeteren is called to investigate the murder of a young girl involved with a religious cult. Like Mankell's Wallander, the inspector has about had it with everything he's seen in his cases. Feeling old and burnt out, he's on the run from an ex-wife and contemplating life running a bookshop. Hopefully this is the set-up and setting for the next Nesser.
Karin Fossum's The Caller opens with a baby covered in blood. This is no murder but the wake-up call shattering the illusion of a perfect family life. Although the story naturally evolves into multiple murders, it's really about how one unhappy family begets another and the danger of damaged children.
Anyone who's followed Camille Lackberg's heroine, knows her family life is far from perfect. Coming from a distant unloving mother and having sheltered a sister who's been battered, crime writer Erica Falck stumbles upon more family secrets. The Nazis in the closet unravel intriguingly, to fill in the gaps for Erica and give us an interesting view of life in Sweden during the Second World War. Released only months after the publication of its predecessor The Gallows Bird, The Hidden Child should give Lackberg the momentum to cement a much deserved following.
The boundless backlist that begs to be translated into English almost makes it tempting enough to learn Swedish. Instead we'll have to wait for the smorgasboard of what lies in store for Christmas. Luckily that already starts in October! 

                        What more could you want than a dog, a book and a blog?