Friday, June 24, 2011

Misterioso-Arne Dahl

Misterioso
Arne Dahl
Pantheon, Jul 12 2011, $25.95
ISBN: 9780375425356

Swedish Police Detective Paul Hjelm knows he would do nothing different as he expedited successfully a hostage situation that Internal Affairs is investigating. However, instead of being fired as he expects, Hjelm is reassigned to what is called the A Team, a new unit of the best of the best. Their mission is to find a serial killer who executes targeted businessmen in their respective homes with two bullets through the head before removing the shells from a wall while listening to Thelonius Monk’s Misterioso.

With the psychopath on a two day cycle, the A Team needs to find this predator. They connect dots between the victims and start focusing in on secret societies that seem to be the link of those “The Power Killer” assassinates. Hjelm, whose family life is shaky even before he worked 24/7 on this case, admires his colleagues like Jorge Chavez and pretty Kerstin Holm.

This exciting Swedish police procedural is fun to follow starting with the IA interrogation over shooting the Albanian immigrant from Kosovo holding hostages to avoid deportation and never slows down as Hjelm joins the A Team to capture the Power Killer. Readers will be fascinated by the serial killer who plays Monk’s Misterioso while committing the execution style homicides. Still Hjelm holds the story line together as a dedicated cop who has family so that readers find him realistic and appealing. .

Harriet Klausner

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