The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup

I found The Chestnut Man through Book of the Month and got it as my September book. After reading some other books that I had already committed to reading for September and October, I picked this one up, eager to read it!

(Source: Kelsey Darling)

Last year, a government minister's daughter went missing and was presumed dead. The killer was caught and incarcerated, despite no body ever being found. Now, the family is trying to put their lives back together. Now, brutal murders are taking place. Along with gruesome crime scenes, little chestnut men are being found. When the dolls are examined, a bloody fingerprint of the missing girl are found on them. It is up to two detectives to figure out if this is a coincidence or if there is a connection. If you find one, he's already found you.

Content Warning: This book contains themes of child abuse, very descriptive crime scenes, and body mutilation.

Oh, this really is a wonderful book! It is not often that I cannot even guess who the murderer is in a book, but I had no idea who was behind the gruesome murders here. Honestly, I thought it was just some random psychopath. Sveistrup does a brilliant job of hiding the killers tracks and pulling you in with red herrings that you do not see it until he is ready for you to see it.

(Source: Giphy)

I absolutely love the characters in this book. Naia Thulin is a single mother who is working her way through the ranks. She is currently part of the Murder Squad, but has her sights set on NC3, the National Cyber Crime Center. Her superior, Nylander, tells her that if she plays her cards right, he'll give her the recommendation she wants. Mark Hess is a liaison officer from Europol who is currently in their bad graces, which has temporarily landed him in Copenhagen. He is gruff, silent, and has two different colored eyes, which is how everyone remembers him. Thulin and Hess do not want to be working together, and while the case originally seems to be a case of domestic abuse, it quickly turns into something much more, leading Thulin and Hess to acknowledge that the other has a unique skill set that will help them discover the murderer.

So when I started the book, I did not realize that it was translated to English, and I kept overlooking the Copenhagen part in the synopsis. I just kept thinking, these people have some weird names and that some of the places sounded really exotic. Luckily, after a couple of chapters, it clicked. But because of this, I really had to pay attention to details and I became very glad that I had the audio book, but a lot of names and places are not things that I am use to pronouncing and probably would have gotten at least two-thirds of them wrong.

(Source: Giphy)

One thing that was a bit hard with the book though was the insane amount of detail given. When doing some reading on Søren Sveistrup, I learned that he is a scriptwriter for a Danish TV show, Forbrydelsen (the American adaption is The Killing). Learning that he is a scriptwriter then made since. He is use to having to put every detail in there, down to the miscellaneous stack of books on a shelf and the number of silverware in the drawer (not examples from the book, but similar). I would say that at least 100 pages could have been cut from the final edition of the book before publishing. At times, I found myself zoning out and waiting for more dialogue. Foreign references made it worse and I would have to go back and listen again when I realized I had zoned out too long.

All of that aside, this is still a brilliant book. I could go back and read it again and find more details about the killer, and still completely enjoy the book. I can honestly say that I have never read a book like this before and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good crime/thriller. Plus, I feel like it was left open for the possibility of a sequel and if that happens, I will be all over it!

(Source: Giphy)

Rating: 9/10
Author: Søren Sveistrup
Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Crime
Dates Read: October 24-29, 2019