The Demon of Dakar by Kjell Eriksson

Thomas Dunne Books / St. Martin’s Minotaur / 6 May 2008

ISBN 978-0-312-36669-8

Hardcover

In The Demon of Dakar, Kjell Eriksson’s highly recommended third novel—which follows The Princess of Burundi and The Cruel Stars of the Night—indefatigable homicide investigator Ann Lindell once again must contend with a baffling case overflowing with red herrings, dead ends, perplexing clues, and difficult personalities.

Translated into English from the Swedish by Ebbe Segerberg, The Demon of Dakar is one of those exemplary Scandinavian mysteries that lends itself to hyperbolic praise, which would be more than justifiable in this review. As a change of pace, however, and to avoid giving too much of the story away, let me entice you as a prospective reader with something different:

Among the various characters in The Demon of Dakar, there are more than a few who are not uncomplicated:

Manuel Alavez, a Latin American coffee grower who travels to Uppsala, Sweden, in hopes of finding out what really happened to his brothers, Patricio (in a Swedish prison on drug charges) and Angel (dead because of his involvement in drug trafficking), is not without considerable resourcefulness in settling scores on behalf of his family.

Slobodan Anderson, ostensibly a restaurateur and owner of Dakar, a tacky little bistro in Uppsala, is not without plentiful sources of supplemental income, and is certainly not reluctant to engage in loads of illegal activities and surround himself with unsavory personalities (some of whom are perhaps even more disagreeable than Slobodan himself could even imagine or accept).

Konrad Rosenberg, a suddenly solvent criminal with a long prison record and a short inventory of scruples, is not without good reason more than a little concerned about his latest financial opportunities and business connections.

Eva Williams, a newly hired waitress at Dakar and a divorced mother of two boys, is not unjustified in worrying about her one son’s involvement in problematic activities; moreover, when she becomes personally involved in an unlikely friendship, Eva’s not inconsiderable passions and compassion will be sorely tested.

As the lives of these and more than a few other colorful characters intersect in The Demon of Dakar, and as intrepid homicide investigator Ann Lindell and her not very normal crew of police department colleagues keep busy (investigating homicides with few clues, of course!), more than a few people—on both sides of the law—will ultimately learn important lessons about the ineffable limits of crimes and punishments, not the least of which is “the dead return, the dead return,” an enigmatic warning which is brought to bear rather stunningly in the more than a little surprising ending of Kjell Eriksson’s highly recommended mystery.

A Safe Place for Dying by Jack Fredrickson

St. Martin’s Minotaur

ISBN 0-312-35168-2

Hardcover

Vlodek Elstrom, otherwise known simply as Dek, lived for a while in the exclusive gated community of Crystal Waters, one of the nicest, upscale little neighborhoods in Chicago’s suburbs.

Critique of Criminal Reason by Michael Gregorio

St. Martin’s Minotaur

ISBN 0-312-34994-7

Hardcover

As a police magistrate in the service of King Frederick Wilhelm III of Prussia in the early 19^th century, Hanno Stiffeniis has been posted to duties in the tranquil and uneventful town of Lotingen for the past several years, but now his life is about to change dramatically.

Summoned to the big city of Königsberg, Stiffeniis must investigate and solve a mysterious series of murders that have occurred at intervals during the past year.

London Boulevard by Ken Bruen

Minotaur / Hardcover / $24.99

ISBN 978-0-312-56168-0

1 December 2009

After three years in a British prison on an aggravated battery charge, Mitchell is back on the streets when Ken Bruen’s London Boulevard begins, and the forty-five year old ex-con is determined to salvage what he can out of life.

The Ragged End of Nowhere by Roy Chaney

Minotaur / Hardcover / $24.99

ISBN 978-0-312-58253-6

10 November 2009

When The Ragged End of Nowhere opens, former CIA agent Bodo Hagen has returned from Germany to Las Vegas just in time to attend his murdered brother ’s graveside interment.