Raid and the Blackest Sheep

Title: Raid and the Blackest Sheep aka Raid Ja Mustempi Lammas

Author: Harri Nykänen [IMDb][Ice Cold Crime]; Translated by Peter Ylitalo Leppa

Publisher: Ice Cold Crime

Series: Raid, Bk 4 (but the 1st Raid book in English)

ISBN: 9780982444924

Length: 242 pages

Obtained: Library ILL copy

Why this book?:

I've been trying to read more Scandinavian (and currently Finnish) authors.  I did not realize this was a 4th book at the time.

Comments:

Nygren is dying, and is traveling across Finland with Raid, taking care of business, on some last mission before the time comes.  The police are hot on his trail, though no one seems to know why the Lieutenant is so set on catching up with Nygren other than vague "he's up to something" comments.

Raid seems to be functioning as bodyguard and chauffeur, but when things get messy he doesn't flinch.   I found Raid to be an interesting character, as both "bad guy" and "good guy" wrapped in one.  And there are a couple small surprises throughout the book, though none elt as large as perhaps they were meant to.

Anyway, while the story was interesting, I'm not sure I'll continue this series unless they get the translations in order.  I do intend to try Harri Nykänen's other series the Ariel Kafka mysteries.

Against the Wall

Title: Against the Wall aka Seinää Vasten

Author: Jarkko Sipilä [Website]; Translated by Peter Ylitalo Leppa

Publisher: Ice Cold Crime

Series: Helsinki Homicide

ISBN: 9780982444900

Length: 291 pages

Obtained: Library ILL copy

Why this book?:

Another book read while I've been working on the Scandinavian Crime bookmark.

Comments:

This is my second Scandinavian Crime book, and like the first it is also written by a Finnish author.  I found the story interesting.  While the repeating character is apparently Takamäkis, I especially appreciated Suhonen.  

Some of the description seemed especially convenient for the non-Finnish reader especially considering Finnish publishers do not (or so I've read) market outside of the Finnish readership.

The next book in the series, Vengeance, has also been translated, so I plan to continue with it.

My First Murder

Title: My First Murder aka Ensimmäinen murhani

Author: Leena Lehtolainen [Website]; Translated by Owen F. Witesman [Website]

Publisher: AmazonCrossing

Series: Maria Kallio Thriller, Bk 1

ISBN: 9781612184371

Length: 242 pages

Obtained: Library ILL copy

Why this book?:

I was updating a bookmark featuring Scandinavian Crime Authors, checking for who might need to be added.  I found Leena Lehtolainen (from Finland) but the library didn't own any of her books.  So I decided to read this one first before asking the library to buy the more recently translated copies and adding her to the bookmark.

Comments:

I'm late writing this up, so I don't remember everything well.  But, I found this to be an interesting case.  I mostly liked Maria.  I did guess who the murderer might be and was incredibly annoyed with Maria for not having some sort of gut feeling about this.  Perhaps that is more true-to-life.  But Maria seemed pretty lonely and desperate for connections to other people, and I believe that contributed to her obtuseness when it came to the murder she was trying to solve.  On the other hand her tracking down all leads seemed pretty decent and I was pleased with the way she stuck with the case even when she was receiving pressure to wrap it up quickly.

I went into reading this book expecting much gloom, doom, and depression.  That has always been my impression of what one expects to find in a Scandinavian book (or at least the crime-types).  And I guess I could see that.  Maria is pretty mopey between her lack of a clear and determined future and her lack of friends.  And the alcoholism in various figures throughout the book was evident.  But it still wasn't quite what I expected.  Perhaps I had built this up more in my mind.

We will see, as I intend to not only continue reading books in this series (I have the second and third books - Her Enemy and Copper Heart - checked out and waiting) and by this author, but also expanding to the works by some other authors listed on the bookmark.  Perhaps I should participate in a Scandinavian author reading challenge... anyone know of any?