Monday, July 23, 2012

Münster's Case-Håkan Nesser

Münster's Case


Håkan Nesser

Pantheon, Aug 7 2012, $25.95

ISBN: 9780307906861



In Sweden, the four retirees (Leverkuhn, Waulers, Palinski and Bonger) win equal shares of the lottery prize of 20,000 guilders. Septuagenarian Leverkuhn knows his 5,000 will not pay for anything as he muses what an old grump he has become as he has no idea what he wants to do with his portion. His partners persuade him to join them as they celebrate at Capernaum. Before he leaves he fails to tell his wife of several decades Marie-Louise that he won some money and that he was celebrating with the guys.



Leverkuhn comes home intoxicated but before falling asleep he notices his spouse is not home. He never wakes up as someone stabs him twenty-eight times with a carving knife. With Inspector Van Veeteren retired, his top gun Intendent Münster leads the investigation in which the wife is the most likely suspect. The case seems closed when she confesses, but anomalies exist when one of the partners vanish and a neighbor his butchered.



The latest Inspector Van Veeteren mystery (see The Inspector And Silence, Mind's Eye and Woman with a Birthmark) is a great Swedish police procedural as the now misnamed series passes the torch to the next generation. Part of the fun is Münster’s amusing asides, which accentuate his personality differs from his former boss. With a great late twist, Münster’s Case is a fabulous investigative thriller as he proves he can be the lead protagonist.



Harriet Klausner

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