Sunday, March 14, 2021

Knock Knock


I have never read anything by this author, Anders Roslund, but will definitely seek out the previous novels he has written or co-authored (with either Börge Helström, died 2017; or Stefan Thunberg). This is the 4th in the Ewert Grens & Piet Hoffman series, but you can certainly jump right in without reading previous installments and still get a rich view of characters and their relationships. Also published under the title Three Days.

Publishers Weekly did such a good job of providing a succinct plot summary, that I am including it here verbatim. "In Roslund's heart-pounding fourth Grens and Hoffman novel (after 2019's Three Hours with the late Börge Hellström), a break-in at the Stockholm apartment where every member of the Lilaj family, except five-year-old Zana, was killed 17 years earlier prompts Det. Supt. Ewert Grens to reexamine the case. Grens discovers that Zana's witness protection file has disappeared from a secure police archive just as several criminals are murdered in the same manner as her family. Meanwhile, Piet Hoffman is contacted anonymously by a person who knows all about Hoffman's time infiltrating Stockholm's criminal underworld for the police. If Hoffman doesn't start a gang war and thereby kick start demand for this new player in the weapons smuggling business, he and his family will be killed. Grens and Hoffman combine forces, as Grens senses they're working two ends of the same problem. While the peril that Hoffman faces is palpable, Grens's impending retirement and loss of purpose presents its own existential threat. This terrific mash-up of police procedural and crime thriller has strongly imagined characters, explosive action, and a twisty plot with an unexpected conclusion. It's a must for Scandinavian noir fans."

Kirkus offers a positive review, as does The New York Journal of Books. Both reviews agree that readers are unlikely to guess the final outcome. 

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