Where Monsters Dwell (Odd Singsaker, #1)

by Jorgen Brekke

"A murder at the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia, bears a close resemblance to one in Trondheim, Norway. The corpse of the museum curator in Virginia is found flayed in his office by the cleaning staff; the corpse of an archivist at the library in Norway, is found inside a locked vault used to store delicate and rare books. Richmond homicide detective Felicia Stone and Trondheim police inspector Odd Singsaker find themselves working on similar murder cases, committed the same way, but half a world away. And both murders are somehow connected to a sixteenth century palimpsest book--The Book of John--which appears to be a journal of a serial murderer back in 1529 Norway, a book bound in human skin. A runaway bestseller in Norway, Where Monsters Dwell has since sold to over fourteen countries. Where Monsters Dwell is the most awaited English language crime fiction debut in years"--

• ISBN10: 1250026040
• ISBN13: 9781250026040
• Publish Date: 11 February 2014
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Minotaur Books
• Format: eBook
• Language: English

Reviews

[Mystereity Reviews]

I love when a book is set in a location I know well. Trondheim is a beautiful city, and it was fun to revisit it. Great plot, well paced with interesting characters and a very enjoyable read.

I don't envy Felicia having to learn Trøndersk, though. Been there.

[dpfaef]

Where Monsters Dwell is a strong debut novel from Norwegian author Jorgen Brekke.
Alternating between the sixteenth century and present day. Berrke weaves a story of the practice of medieval anatomy with the present day fascination with a rare book The Book of Johannes, which appears to be written by a medieval serial murder.
In the present two murders occurs, one at the Edgar Allan Poe museum and one at a famous library in Trondheim, Norway. A connection between the two murders is made and American homicide detective Felicia Stone travels to Trondheim where she meets police inspector Odd Singsaker.
Together, Stone and Singsaker follow the clues to find a serial murderer, who is using The Book of Johannes as a guide murder his victims.
What I liked about this book was everyone is a suspect. Brekke presents well defined characters and a gripping but rather slow paced tale of both serial murderers. For me there was a sense of suspense that kept me reading. While the book is gruesome, I found the characters to be more upbeat than in some the other Scandinavian mysteries. If you enjoyed this book you would probably like James Thompson’s Inspector Kari Vaara series.

I received a ARC from Bookbrowse.com